The Everfree Core
by WesDaaman
Summary: Strange stuff is happening in the great center of the Everfree Forest.
1. The Raid at Night

It was the middle of the night, the city of Canterlot was quiet. From within the palace home of Celestia and Luna, a pair of mysterious dark figured lurked through the shadows. They did not look like Ponies at all, but like two Gargoyle/Bat-like Creatures with glowing red eyes.

"Were is that venom anyways?", asked the figure that was slightly blue-toned in color in a female voice.

"It is hidden in a secret door somewhere", replied the other figure that was slightly green-toned in color in a male voice.

After they snuck through the hallways, unseen and unheard by the sleeping guards, they finally found a small, vault-like door that had a sign atatched that said "Mega-Ant Venom, do not open".

"This is exactly what we need", snickered the female Being.

"Indeed it is", snickered the male Being.

They then both warped through the door like Ghosts and warped back out with a jar full of dark purple, gooey liquid with a label on it that read "Some of the last known venom samples of the Antman queens"

The two strange Creatures laughed as quietly as they could so they would not wake the guards. Just as the two started to fly out of Canterlot, one of the Pegasus guards, sleeping on of the balconies, suddenly woke up and spotted the two Bat/Gargoyle-like Creatures flying into the night sky.

"Hey!", he called up in a tired voice, "Who are you two clowns?"

"Oh no!", complained the female thing, "We've been spotted! I told you not to be so obvious!"

"So what?", snapped the male thing, "This is my fault?"

The guard then thought he was still dreaming and fell back to sleep as the two started to fly straight toward the Everfree Forest. What evil purposes were they going to use the venom of the Mega-Ant sisters for?

_To Be Continued_


	2. Music and the Spa

The next day, Ponyville was acting as normal as it always has been. Griffy was showing some sort of sheet of paper that had musical notes on it to the Cutie Mark Crusaders in front of his Tree in the park.

"Okay, here's how this is going to work", he said to them, "The older Ponies will become so attracted by your performance that you may get tips from them to get your Flank Symbols..I mean, uuuuuhhh Cutie Marks"

"Aren't ya'll gonna help us out?", asked Apple Bloom, blinking her adorable eyes to persuade Griffy. Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle did the same thing in persuasion, adding more cuteness.

"I would", replied Griffy, slightly groaning from the three foals' cuteness getting to him, "But today's the day I do my part time janitorial job at the spa, Lotus and Aloe are waiting for my assistance". And he flew away for the spa, leaving only the sheet for the song he was showing the CMC in front of them.

"Well maybe we should try out the song idea", said Sweetie Belle, telekinizing the sheet.

"I say we start rehearsing now!", said Scootaloo with an eager voice.

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A few minutes later, the Cutie Mark Crusaders had practiced the song and were ready to sing it, with a few adult Ponies just passing by, giving only slight glances. They all jumped up on top of a boulder with a flat top and were about to sing when suddenly, William the "actual" Unicorn was walking up from behind, curious about this young musical number.

"What's going here, Ponies?", asked William, accidentally startling the Cutie Mark Crusaders, causing them to fall head first into the Blueberry Bush that was in front of the boulder they were just on.

"Whoops! Uh, sorry!", said William, hoping they were not hurt, "I just heard some of your singing while I was visiting Ponyville just now. Now I'm really just here to know what the sugar-frosted bread called "cake" tastes like"

The three fillies poked their head out of the bush, stained in Blueberry juice. "Are you saying that you've never heard of cake before, Mr. William?", asked Sweetie Belle.

"Well I've been born and raised in the Everfree Forest", replied the Unicorn, patting his long, bony, Rat-like tail on the ground.

"Well tahme that you had a sample of Apple-flavored cake at mah place, raght now!", said Apple Bloom happily.

"What exactly are you?", asked Scootaloo, still so confused at the tall-horned, Equine-like Creature with long ears and hoof-like toes she was staring at, "You say you're a Unicorn, but you look nothing like Sweetie Belle and the rest of her race of Pony"

"Because my species is what Unicorn Ponies resemble", replied William, a little annoyed, "We are closely related to Equines though, including Rhinos and Tapirs. Now can you young Pony Horses direct me to the kak now...I mean cake"

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Meanwhile, at the Ponyville spa, Griffy was moping the floor, but looked a little cranky as he snacked from the convenient snack trays of Daisies.

"Oh viingizui", he grumbled outloud, "I don't know if I can stand this stuff anymore"

Lotus and Aloe suddenly heard him mumble his complaint and quickly zoomed straight towards him, hoping to fix the problem.

"Ees there something wrong weeth the food meester Masterton?", asked Lotus.

"We sensed you onhoppy", added Aloe.

"You call all this food? No offense", replied Griffy, "Just look at these snacks, roasted Daises, Tomato jelly, it's all for herbivores! I'm surrounded mostly by herbivores all day, mainly you Ponies. I need some meat"

That's when the clock struck 11:30 AM, meaning it was break time. Griffy then knew that he could go and find some smaller Animals to eat now. As he foraged in the park for Ants and Acorns to eat, Griffy could not help but notice that something else seemed incomplete.

"_I feel full from that Ant and Acorn lunch_", he said in his thoughts, "_But what is this other feeling I am getting? Is it guilt from seemingly hurting the spa twins' feelings?_"

He then turned his head to see his Maple Tree home, he then got an idea and rushed inside his home to get something.

Back at the spa, Lotus and Aloe were worried for how they were going to please any other omnivorous or carnivorous species that might stop by their spa.

"What shall we do Aloe?", asked Lotus.

"I am not sure Lotus", replied Aloe, "I beelieve that we may have scared our best janitor, yah"

"Excuse me, ladies", said the familiar voice of Griffy at the door, "But I have something that may cheer you two up"

But just as he walked further into the spa, the two sisters rushed to him and both hugged him hard, happy that he had not quit his part-time job.

"May I please continued", he asked as the two Ponies let him go. He then got out his flute that he made in his Tree a while back to remind him of his home back in Gabbagon and started to play it. Lotus and Aloe were relaxed by the flute's soothing melodies as Griffy played it while flying above their heads.

"That is a little taste of Gabbagon", Griffy said as soon as he finished playing.

"That may be another addition to the spa, yah!", said Lotus, "It is simply luxurious"

"Indeed", added Aloe, "You con play the flute while cleaning to entertain the customers, wheneva you want"

"It's a deal", said Griffy with a smile.

_To Be Continued_


	3. Alert! Venom Gone!

Later on in the day, at the library, Spike belched out a message from Celestia and showed it to Twilight that a new problem had arisen and the 8 representatives of the Elements of Harmony were needed to meet with her in the throne room. As they left, the mayor saw them leave town and called out to them, wishing them luck.

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Once all 8 friends arrived in Canterlot and came to the throne room, Celestia was looking very unsettled and Luna was feeling concern for her.

"What seems to be the trouble?" asked Twilight, ready for action as everyone else was.

"You aren't going to believe this," muttered Celestia, "But...Antman queen venom...it has been stolen last night!"

The 8 friends gasped in horror. They recalled when they fought off the massive, sword-wielding Antmen and saved Equestria from them. They recalled how the two Antman twin sister queens, the Mega-Ants (Caron and Gooyok), had venomous bites that could alter the genetic code of a living organism. This had, of course, resulted in Chop and Digger's current mutated forms. They also remembered when apparently the two bled from an accident, the leaders of the Diamond Dogs later tasted that discarded blood and became mutants themselves. The venom had been extracted from the Dogs' bodies and stored away into a jar that had been since locked away in a safe...until now.

"We suspect evil demons are behind this," said Luna.

"I also feel that another soul is involved," added Celestia, right then feeling a little blue, "It's as if it is someone I have not seen in a while, someone I might have broken the heart of."

"Anyway," continued Luna, "We instruct you eight to travel to a very littleknown region of the Everfree Forest: its very center. Some documentation has been done their by early Pony explorers. Mostly they have documented life that appears to be survivors from the distant past."

"Okay, We'll retrieve the stolen venom." said a determined Twilight Sparkle.

"Finally, some action!" added Rainbow Dash.

"I'm with you on that one!" said Applejack.

"It's going to be a wild and crazy trip to the unknown center of the Everfree Forest!" spoke Pinkie Pie in a singsong tone, "Do you think there'll be a reception?"

"I hope it will be safe," mumbled Fluttershy.

"Seems magnificent enough," said Rarity.

"Let's get moving and cracking!" said Spike dramatically.

"I'm also ready to learn about what ancient life we may come across," said Griffy, his curiosity peeked.

"Wait, here's something else," said Celestia. She then whistled and in flew Philomena the Phoenix. "Philomena will be guiding on this trip. She has always wanted to explore the Everfree Forest. Haven't you, Philomena?

The Phoenix squawked in agreement.

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Meanwhile, in the mysterious heart of the Everfree Forest, inside a dark cave, the stolen jar of Mega-Ant venom sat upon the stony floor.

"Are you certain that this plan will help me win my reputation back with you know who?" asked a tall figure within the shadows to another, more frightening figure.

"You have my word," responded the more frightening, practically evil thing in a deep and booming voice, "With this substance, success shall be obvious."

_To Be Continued_


	4. Into the Forest

As the 8 friends, joined by Philomena, reached the edge of the Everfree Forest. Griffy, Applejack and Rarity suddenly remembered something, they had to tend to a few things at their homes. They told the rest of the gang that they would be right back.

Applejack rushed to Sweet Apple Acres to grab a pack of Apples for this journey. She suddenly got accidently stopped by her brother, Big Macintosh. "Eeeeyup", he said to her, "Looks lahke ya'll are gunna save the world again, move along"

Rarity told her sister, Sweetie Belle to go and have a little "sleep over" at Sweet Apple Acres with Apple Bloom, since she was not going to be around to look after her.

Griffy, meanwhile, found his flute that he had used earlier that day and decided to take it along, "_Never know when something like an instrument becomes useful_", he thought to himself.

Once the three had returned to their group (who were waiting by the forest's edge), they all wondered as to why they had brought a large sack of Apples hanging over AJ's side.

"It's fer when we feel both hungry and apart from home", said AJ.

"I also brought along my Gabbagonian flute to entertain us all", said Griffy, pointing to his flute sticking out of the Apple sack.

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As the 9 were in the forest, some short distance from Ponyville, they came across what looked like something moving in the bushes and chewing on something.

"It's probably just a Weasel or a Warthog", said Griffy as he walked over and pulled down some of the bush, revealing William the "real" Unicorn sitting on the ground and eating some of that Ponyville cake he wanted so much.

"Oh, it's you, represenatives of Harmony", said William, licking the cake off of his muzzle, "And you've been occompanied by a Phoenix, eh?"

"This is Philomena", said Twilight. That's when Philomena flew over to William and stared at him closely.

"What?", he asked the fire-like Bird.

Philomena made a few squawks in a perfect sentance of her own Phoenix language, wich meant: "You are the most bizarre-looking Perrisiodactyl I have ever seen"

Riiiiiiiiiight", said William with a wierded-out voice, "Now what is your latest quest, heroes?"

"There has been strange activity in the center of the Everfree Forest", said Spike, "And the jar of Mega-Ant venom was stolen by Demons last night and taken to the center"

"Sounds like a looooooong walk", said William, "Why don't you ask Zecora the Zebra about a quicker way to get to the forest's center. For you see, the Everfree Forest spans for several miles"

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Just as William had suggested to do, the 9 Beings made their way to Zecora's hut, to ask her of how to find an easy route to the heart of the Everfree Forest.

"Answers, I do know", said Zecoras as the group stood in front of her cauldron, "But you must know what you shall meet, before you go"

She then started to use some sort of herbal mix in her bru and it started to make illusions in the steam of what looked like primitive Creatures.

"If you try and fly or take an high-up ride", said the Zebra as the illusion that looked like a Pterosaur flew over the group's heads, "You might meet a Kongamato near your side"

"And if you you meet a Virunga in the dark", she continued as the illusion of what looked like a big carnivorous Dinosaur charged straight at them, "It will be no safe walk in the park"

"And if you enounter a long-horned Rhinoceros with not much hair", she continued as the illusion of what looked-like a one-horned Rhino lumbered past the them all, "An Emela-Ntouka is what you have met there"

Then all the illusional smoke Creatures disappeared by just poofing away.

"Walk a few kilometers that way to a tall cliff, no need for a relay", continued Zecora, "You will find an object you know to count on will give you the right way"

None of the group quite understood Zecora's riddle, but they decided to just go and try it out anyways. They left her hut and went into the direction Zecora pointed out to them. That's when Griffy stopped and rushed in another direction, as if to get a look at something. The other went ot go and check him, only to find their Pygmy Griffin friend sitting on boulder, staring through some thick Cycads at an enormous clearing which happened to be none other than his home area, Gabbagon.

Philomena just rolled her eyes in impatience. Spike and most of the Ponies kind of acted the same way the Phoenix was acting. Fluttershy and Twilight, on the other hand, noticed Griffy's eyes, as he looked at his original home, shedding tears. The two felt bad, since he had been banished from his home area by breaking a law: never eat a fellow Gabbagonian (in this case, a Vole).

"I might want to focus on my new life with you all", said Griffy, his eyes starting to spot shedding tears, "And I should.."

That's when he spotted, within Gabbagon's borders, two female Pygmy Griffins walking by and gossiping in Gabbagonian. One had regular yellow eyes, but the other had the rare blues eyes, just like Griffy.

"Meow", said Griffy with a smile as he watched them pass, blushing slightly at the same time. He then remembered that they had to do a mission with his friends and jumped over to them and carried on into the Everfree Forest.

_To Be Continued_


	5. Alternate Future

As the group walked through the forest, the undergrowth was starting to become a little denser the further they trekked. That's when they heard a strange chuckling from the tops of the Trees above their heads that made them all a little cautious. But Rainbow Dash was ready to face the mysterious Creature.

"Show yourself!", she shouted.

"No need to be harsh", said the nasally voice, sounding like a female Creature of some sort, "I am just laughing at your attempts to get through this area of the forest without encountering the Cave of Alternate Futures"

All of a sudden, on one of the branches above, appeared the Creature talking to them. She climbed down from the Tree's upper level and sat on the branch, she was a Ring-Tailed Lemur.

"Why would you laugh at our antics? Who are you, by the way?", asked Spike, "And what's the Cave of Alternate Futures?"

"My name is Arlene", said the Lemur, "I am kind of a tourist around this region and I laugh because no one has ever past the Cave of Alternate Futures without getting tempted to have a peek"

"We are pretty good at ignoring things like this cave of which you speak of", said Rarity.

"You know", said Arlene with an entertained smile, "Ponies are the one Creature that find this cave the most irresistible to not look into. Oh, and do look out for the migratory Elephant herds that pass around these 15 square miles of the forest"

She then bolted back up into the Tree's higher leaves, and was then unseen, still laughing in amusement. The whole decided that they would try their best to avoid both getting tempted by this cave and running into passing Elephants.

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Just a little further on, they all came across just what Arlene the Ring-Tailed Lemur had told them all about; the Cave of Alternate Futures. It was up to 60 feet tall and had a few vines hanging over the entrance. The six Ponies tryed their best to ignore the cave, just as Griffy, Spike and Philomena were doing, but their natural Pony curiosity got the best of them. The 3 non-Ponies just sat by the caves entrance hoping for the six Ponies to get their senses working and get out of that mystical cave. They did not enter themselves, for they did not want to get alternate visions.

Inside the tall dark cave, the six Ponies started to have visions of alternate futures if their current quest were to be incomplete:

Applejack saw her home, Sweet Apple Acres, being blasted away by a wave of evil dark energy, including her family; Granny Smith, Big Macintosh, Apple Bloom and Winona.

Fluttershy saw all sorts of little Creatures that she has cared for running in fear of her, including an Ursa Major and Angel the Rabbit.

Pinkie Pie saw Gummy the Alligator being attacked and devoured by a long-necked cousin of the Cockatrice known as a Basilisk. She also saw all of Equestria hating her need to have active fun.

Rarity saw Sweetie Belle and Opal the Cat sitting on the sidewalk of a filthy urban street, begging for money from passing adult Ponies. And in the ally in back of them were two grave stones that had her parents' names on them.

Rainbow Dash saw giant, Bat-like Demons flying in the sky that was now red as blood with clouds as black as space, all Pegasus Ponies were chained to the ground with chrome steel chained leashes. She also saw Kurayami's huge red eyes staring down for the dark clouds.

Twilight Sparkle had the worst vision of all, she was by Kurayami's side in a metal slave outfit and was ordered by the cloud-like Being to destroy both her Pony and non-Pony friends with the almost impossible to master, Dark Death Spell. All Alicorns had been vanquished and the universe was strangely not collapsing, for Kurayami had taken official control and kept the universe stable with its dark powers.

All of a sudden, the six felt an enormous vine grab hold of them all at once, lassoing them together and pulling them out of the cave and the alternate visions stopped. They then saw that they were back out in the forest and saw Griffy, Spike and Philomena holding onto the other end of the vine.

"We knew you'd need some way of getting out of their without us seeing crazy alternate futures", said Spike.

"Good thing you're all back", said Griffy.

Philomena nodded in agreement.

"We need to complete this journey, now!", shouted all six Ponies at once, realizing that the visions would come true if they were to fail reaching the heart of the Everfree Forest on time, "Wait, you all had that same vision too?"

_To Be Continued_


	6. That Night in the Baobab

The night had already started to come in and the 9 decided that sleep would be quite needed for this trip the heart of the Everfree Forest. Griffy, Philomena and the two Pegasi flew up to the larges branches of a 57 foot high Baobab Tree, carrying some large foliage to make an enormous nest for them all to sleep in for the night, safe from nocturnal ground predators.

"How can we, the ones who cannot fly, get up there?", asked Rarity. Spike just sighed to the fact that he had yet to mature in order to get his yet to be sprouted wings fully-functioning to fly.

"You and I could just teleport ourselves, Spike and the Earth Ponies up there", suggested Twilight, and she and Rarity successfully teleported themselves and the 3 other flightless friends.

As soon as all where in the 15 foot-wide nest of Palm leaves and vines of any species, they all began to doze off while staring at the beautiful moon. The six Ponies sat down on all four to go to sleep. Philomena perched on the edge of the huge "nest", rasied one leg up and tucked her head into her wing. Spike and Griffy both curled themselves up like how a Dog often sleeps.

"I feel so at home in the Trees", Griffy whispered with a smile, "Just look at the moon shine as the planet turns away from the sun and the other side gets daytime. And the stars look wonderful too, for they are other solar systems out there, light years away from out solar system"

"It's really dark too", interjected Pinkie, sleepily, "With little sparkly things"

"I'm also glad to be away from the unnatural Pony world for a little while and to get away from you know who", continued Griffy as soon as Pinkie went back to sleeping.

"Who's that?", asked Spike with a sleepy voice.

"Sweetie Belle, of course", groaned Griffy, "She has developed a crush on me, just like you have for her sister. I keep telling her I'm too old for her, but I am aware that this is just a kid crush thing, like what you have for Rarity. But another big problem is a species difference, I keep telling her that her crush on me, including your crush on her sister, is only an unnatural influence brought on by Kurayami"

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A little time later, Fluttershy was the only one who could not sleep. The reason was because she had never slept in a forest at night before and she was frightened. She poked Twilight, hoping for an idea of how to sleep better out there.

"Fluttershy", Twilight grumbled, "I'm trying to sleep hard enough to get that alternate future vision out of my mind. It was hideous, it was an alternate depiction of me next to Kurayami, wearing a metal slave outfit that strangely made me look hot"

"I could still use help", mumbled Fluttershy.

Griffy heard his closest female friend mumbling in fear. He could tell right away she needed help with sleeping (despite her young adult age) so he knew exactly what to do.

"You know, Flutter", said Griffy as he walked over to her side, "When I was a chick-cub, I was kind of a afraid of the dark myself, but I know what will put you and the rest of the gang to sleep, as it did with me in my earlier times of life"

The Pygmy Griffin then went over to the bag of supplies that was lying against Applejack's side, searched through it and found his wooden flute. "Prepare to feel and hear one of the most soothing songs of Gabbagon", he said.

Griffy then started to play his flute very soothingly, stopping every now and then to sing in Gabbagonian words:

_(Flute music)_

__Amanalu duniaina__

__Amanalu duniaina__

_(Flute music)_

_Usingizmoe moe usikuk__eia po_

After that soothing go to sleep song, the whole group was finally asleep, including Fluttershy.

_To Be Continued_


	7. Good Morning

Time passed and it came to be late dawn. Rarity was the first to wake up and walk to the edge of the huge "nest" to take a look at the beautiful sunrise. Suddenly, she spotted some of the nearby Trees shaking as if something big was making stomps heavy enough to shake them. When she squinted her eyes close enough, she could see it was a herd of Elephants marching through the forest. These were obviously the ones Arlene the Lemur told them about. As the Elephants marched, crashing through the underbrush, they were chanting some sort of song in their own Elephant language.

"Looks like a dawn patrol of Creatures that do not respect others' means of being tired", grumbled Rarity.

The Elephant in the lead shouted to the other behind to chant some more to show their marching spirit. They all chanted and trumpted loudly, causing the rest of the group to wake up, still a little sleepy. The vibrations the Elephants made with their marching accidently caused a large leaf to fall down from the "nest", making a hole. Spike accidently rolled through it and fell to the ground. He got up, shook the dirt off his head and ended up getting stuck in the passing herd, getting stepped on in a cartoonish fashion.

Philomena decided to get the Elephants from stomping on Spike by using some of her fire powers. She swooped down, flapped her wings really fast, making fiery sparks apear, frightening the Elephants and sending them stampeding away. She then flew to the ground, picked him up and took him back to the "nest".

After having breakfest in the "nest" (the Ponies eating leaves and the non-Ponies eating Insects), the fliers flew to the ground and the the flightless ones were teleported by Unicorn Pony magic.

"Wait", said Twilight, looking up at the "nest", still in the Tree, "I should probably destroy the nest so no evil-does will be on our trail". So she fired a beam of magic to make the "nest' explode into Plant debris.

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A little further on, the 9 Beings came to the same exact cliff described in Zecora's riddle from earlier.

"Now what did that Zebra mean bah "what we've always used"?".

"I think I see the answer", said Griffy, pointing at a small, reflective objest on the cliff's very edge. It was none other than the calculator-like device CHIP.

"Looks like when the venom was stolen", said Rainbow Dash, "CHIP was taken away to slow us down, but looks like they wanted to put in a hard to find place"

"Well it didn't work", said Spike with smile, picking up CHIP and pressing the "Vehicle Activation Button". CHIP then transformed into a life-sized jet-like vehicle.

"All systems activated and ready for uage", spoke CHIP's computer voice.

"It's good to have this gadget again", said Griffy.

"I thought we might never see Chippy-wippy-poo ever again!", said Pinkie Pie with happiness, hugging CHIP and kissing its metal.

"This is going to be a long trip", said Philomena in her Phoenix language, rolling her eyes at seeing Pinkie kissing a machine.

_To Be Continued_

NOTE: I Wunder if anyone will get any shipping ideas for Pinkie and CHIP


	8. Ponies are Evil

Before the group could board onto CHIP, Philomena spotted something dow the cliff with her shar eye sight. She squawked to the rest of the group to say that she had seen something wierd. The Ponies, Spike, Griffy and Philomena looked down the cliff's edge to see what looked like a meeting of indiginous Everfree Forest Animals. They were speaking of the unnatural world outside the Everfree Forest.

"Can you believe this?", said a male Black Rhinoceros, "The enviroment outside our forest home does not function properly on its own. It needs a Pony's attention to function properly. Ugh, distgusting"

"Ponies are awful!", shouted a male Pygmy Hippopotamus, "I hate them!"

The Creatures began to then sing a song about how much the Everfree Forest's inhabitant's fear the world beyond it.

**The following is a spoof of "Creepy Crawlies" from "The Land Before Time 11: Invasion of the Tinysauruses:**

[Male Black Rhino]:

Those Creepy Ponies

[Female Moose]:

Those Creepy Ponies

[Male Ostrich and male Pygmy Hippo]:

Everybody hates those single-hoofed Ponies

[Female Black Rhino]:

They won't let you find your own food right

[Female Bald Eagle]:

They try and help you sleep at night

[Male Black Rhino]:

Everything about them is just not right

[All the Creatures in the Meeting]:

Those bizarre...creepy Ponies

Creepy Ponies

[Male Pygmy Hippo]:

Strangely fluffy

[Female Moose]:

Slightly spiny

[All the Creatures in the Meeting]:

Creepy Ponies

[Male Pygmy Hippo]:

They'll try and clean your ears

[Female Black Rhino]:

And in between your toes

[Male Black Rhino]:

They'll try and give you food without you trying on your own, pretty much under your nose

[All the Creatures in the Meeting]:

Those awful creepy Ponies

[Female Black Rhino]:

They're sometimes quite smart

[Male Black Rhino]:

They're sometimes dumb

[Male Ostrich]:

They have a unique appearence

[Female Bald Eagle]:

And we all know where they're from

[Female Black Rhino]:

The one thing we know of them most is that they are very different from us

[Male Black Rhino]:

And this is the only different thing that could secretly dangerous

[All the Creatures in the Meeting]:

Whoa!

Creepy Ponies

Creepy Ponies

The world's a better place without those creepy Ponies

[Male Llama]:

But yet every living thing does have a role to play

[Female Llama]:

They might be secretly nice and they are said to be created in the Alicorns' image

[Male Pygmy Hippo]:

No sir!

[Male Black Rhino]:

No way!

[Female Moose and female Black Rhino]:

Their guts could be very slimy and sticky

[Male Ostrich and male Pygmy Hippo]:

Their fur could be a little spiny

[Female Black Rhino]:

Nitsy

[Female Bald Eagle]:

Natsy

[Male Black Rhino]:

We'll smash them flatsy!

[All the Creatures in the Meeting]:

CREEPY PONIES!

EEEWWW!

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As soon as the musical number was over, the Ponies were looking a little ashamed of the impression that their kind had left on this forest. Fluttershy, Applejack and Rainbow Dash were the ones most ashamed.

"That strangely called upon my true Everfree Forest self", said Griffy, looking hypnotized by the song.

"Let's now board on CHIP before anything else happens", said Twilight to the rest of the group.

_To Be Continued_


	9. Arival to the Heart

As CHIP (in its large, jet-like mode) flew through the air above the canopy of the vast forest, the 9 Beings were sitting inside, eger to get to the forest's heart soon. Applejack and Fluttershy were acting rather down, all of a sudden.

"Are you two down in the mouth because of the Everfree Forest thinking the same way about the Pony world as you Ponies think about this forest?", Spike asked the two.

"I-I never heard any living thing say such harsh words about my species ever", mumbled Fluttershy, trying her best not to cry.

"Ah always called the Everfree Forest unnatural", said Applejack, "Ah just never realahzed that this place would call our land the same exact thang"

While Spike tried to cheer the two up, the rest of the group were just looking out the windows, enjoying the view. Suddenly, Rainbow Dash spotted what looked like a large valley, isolated from the rest of the forest by tall and jagged mountains. She also noticed that CHIP was flying towards this valley and preparing to land.

"Destination reached", spoke out the computer voice of CHIP, "Everfree Forest Center. Preparing to land, prepare for impact"

Rainbow looked out the window again and spotted, as CHIP flew into the valley, a Mandrill wearing a Grass skirt and holding a spear, standing on top of a large hill and chanting.

"Riiiiiiight", said Rainbow sarcasticlly, "It's going to be one of THOSE locations"

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CHIP then landed in one of the valley's swamps, the 9 boarded off, the machine transformed back into a small calculator-like object and was put away into Applejack's travel bag that she still had. The swamp around the group was magnificent, with tall Reeds and Mangrove-like Trees.

"What's that over there?", said Griffy, after they all heard a splash in the river nearby.

Out of the water emerged a very strange-looking, scaly, four-legged Animal, lumbering out of the river and onto the muddy bank. It looked kind of like a Reptile, except that its legs were not sticking to the side but underneath like a Mammal's design, it had a lot of long spikes running along its tail and back, had a few small plate-like objects on its neck and it had a small Bird-like mouth.

"Scan that thing, CHIP", said Twilight, after she telekinized CHIP out of the bag. CHIP then projected its scanning hologram onto the Creature, slightly alerting it by accident.

"Mbielu-Mbielu-Mblieu", spoke CHIP, showing an image on its screen of the Creature, "A modern descendant of the Stegosaur known as _Kentrosaurus_. This species is primarily seen bathing in water"

"The center of the Everfree Forest is a lost prehistoric world?", said Griffy, "AWESOME! I feel the erge to catalogue now"

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Meanwhile, within a patch of Trees not too far away from the group, a pair of what looked like two Gargoyle or Bat-like Demons were plotting on what to do next. These were the two that stole the venom from Canterlot that night. Their names are Vici (one of the 82 masculine Demons) and Garlva (one of the 18 femenine Demons).

"I must say", said Vici, the green one, "Your chosen mortal form's small pair of horns somewhat reduces your speed when you fly"

"So what?", replied Garlva, the blue one "Yours slightly drags because of those three huge teeth you have sticking out"

"If you and I are quite done with our physical critisism towards each other", said Vici, "I would like to remind you that I sensed the 8 Elements of Harmony ariving to this valley. We should prepare ourselves in case of any unforseen disasters"

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After being greeted by a Mbielu-Mbielu-Mbielu, the group moved along through the wetland and came across a small herd of Elephant-sized Rhinoceroses with only one tall horn on their noses, feeding on Shrubs.

"Zecora showed in illusion of one of these Rhinos", pointed out Rarity, realizing the Rhinos looked familiar.

CHIP scanned them and identified them.

"Emela-Ntouka", CHIP identified, "A unique Rhinoceros species. Fiercely territorial"

All of a sudden, to the Emela-Ntouka, the warm-breezed changed and their was the smell of fear in the air. The herd then started to get nervous, bellowing, stomping and turning their heads from side to side to spot the threat.

"Maybe they some love to feel better", suggested Fluttershy.

"Are you kidding?", questioned Rainbow Dash, "Those things are way bigger than us, they'll crush you"

"Well think it might be normal for you Ponies to feel close to a Rhino", said Griffy, "Because, ironiclly, Equines and Rhinos are closely related. You're both Perissiodactyls"

"You mean I am taxonomiclly related to something as ugly as a Rhinoceros?", said Rarity in shock. Once Griffy nodded his head, Rarity nearly fainted.

"Wait a minute!", said Twilight, twitching her ears, "I think I can sense what's startling these Emela-Ntouka"

And just as she was finished speaking, a 50 foot long, bright red-colored, dark red-striped, predatory, Dinosaur-like Creatures charged out of the nearby tall undergrowth. The large Rhinos began to scramble in panic. Some of the herd tried to use their horns to frighten the attacker off. So the large carnivore chose a teenage Emela-Ntouka, smaller and weaker than the adults. The Ponies could watch as the predator mercilessly slaughtered the sub-adult Rhino, using its powerful jaws to crack its victims ribs. Spike, Philomena and Griffy watched, amazed at how predatory this specimen was.

"Must...respect...all forms...of nature", mumbled Fluttershy to herself in fear, "Including...p-p-p-pr-pr-predation"

The rest of the Rhino heard had escaped and the attacker was feeding on its victim's dead body. Spike reached into the bag and used CHIP to scan and identify this flesh-eater.

"Virunga", CHIP stated, "A large and predatory Theropod, closly related to the now extinct _Carcharodontosaurus_. One of the largest predators in the Everfree Forest's heart"

"Let's get out of here before that Virunga has us for deasert!", whispered Pinkie Pie in fear.

_To Be Continued_


	10. More Discoveries

As the 9 Beings kept walking through one of the valley's jungles, hunger was starting to get to them all. Pinkie Pie spotted a a convenient-looking bush with reddish-yellow, Lemon-like fruit growing from it. She skipped over, knelt down to take a bite out of one of the fruits and was yanked away by Applejack, grabbing her tail with her teeth, before Pinkie could even taste the fruit.

"Ya'll should have a better sense of survahval, Pinkie", said AJ, "We don't what fruit's toxic to us Ponies and what's not"

"Maybe CHIP can arrange that", interjected Spike, holding the calculator-like device in his claws. CHIP scanned the fruit and identified the facts on it and its health: "This is the Querla-Twirla Plant. If anything strictly herbivorous by nature that comes from outside this valley eats its fruit, then they will temporarily spin in circles for 5 to 6 hours"

"I do like to spin", said Pinkie, "But not for more than an hour"

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The group moved on, searching for something more healthy to one who does not come from this valley. They all stopped to rest beneath a large a species of Tree called a Gaboon, still hungry. The Ponies then realized something that they had been missing: Grass (typical grazer food), all around them. The six Equines began to graze like crazy on the Grass while Griffy, Spike and Philomena still hungered for something more easy to digest than Grass. Griffy thought maybe Insects would be perfect for him, Spike and Philomena; but when he actually thought about it, most of the Insects in this valley are huge, some even the size of Spike.

All of a sudden, Philomena heard something, coming from a short distance of about 90 feet away from the group. She flew up to the top of the Gaboon Tree and looked around. She then spotted an amazing sight up ahead, 90 or 70 feet away from this particular Tree, a small herd of 35-40 foot long, brown-colored, long-necked, long-tailed Dinosaurs. These large species also had tiny little spine running down their vertebrae, greenish brown stripes on their backs and were 15 feet tall to the hip and 14 feet tall to the shoulder. They were lumbering through the Trees, feeding on the tops.

Philomena squawked to the others bellow to tell of her sighting of more Dinosaurs. The 8 mostly got the message from seeing one of the huge plant-eaters lumbering out of nowhere through the Trees towards them.

"M-m-m-more D-D-D-Dino-s-s-s-saurs?", stammered Pinkie Pie in awe as the huge Creature lumbered past the group, "This is wonderful! I wonder if this one knows how to party and dance!"

"I highly doubt that", said Rarity, "But I do admire the the striped pattern this specimen has for an accessory"

"I hate to bust your fashion imagination", said Griffy, "But those stripes are all natural, it hatched with them"

Rarity made a surprised face, she didn't know whether to be amazed or disgusted by natural stripes (outside of Zebra stripes).

Griffy used CHIP to scan the passing herd of herbivorous Dinosaurs and the device identified them: "Mokele-Mbembe. The most well-known inhabitant of the heart of the Everfree Forest. It is a variety of Sauropod descended from _Nigersaurus_"

"This valley sure is full of surprises", said Rainbow Dash, "Wonder if any of these primitive relics can fly as awesome as me? By the Alicorns, that would be awesome to see a native Vertebrate flyer around here. The only native flyers I see are those huge Dragonflies, Bees and Gnats"

Suddenly, the paniced cries of Philomena came from the Gaboon's top. The Phoenix swooped down and hid underneath Flutteshy's long, pink mane, shaking in fear. Some of Philomena's feathers fell from the branches above, dripping slightly of blood. The whole group then got worried that some Tree-nesting Creature or two was on the prowl and had already attacked the poor, fiery-colored Bird. The passing Mokele-Mbembe herd noticed whatever was perched on top of the Tree, but did not seem to care. That's when Twilight spotted the thing that attacked Philomena fly off the Tree and start to land on the ground near the Mokele-Mbembe herd. It was a little larger than Philomena.

The Creature had to be the most bizarrest that the travelers had seen in the valley. It looked kind of like a Bird, except it had no feathers, had membranous wings with 3 little fingers and one extended finger per wing. It walked on all fours (meaning it folded back its extended fingers and walked on its clawed hindlegs and 3 small wing fingers), it had a long beak with jagged teeth sticking up and down, it little hair-like scales on its back and the back of its neck, it had a long tail with a diamond-shaped flap of skin on the on the tip and its whole body was blackish green in color. The thing looked at the 9 Beings and made a hiss-like shriek at them.

"What kind of Bird is that?", Rarity whispered to Fluttershy.

"I don't think that's a Bird at all", said Fluttershy, "It's walking on all fours while Birds walk on two legs"

"It looks cold-blooded in a way", said Griffy, "For some reason, this scaly flyer reminds me of Spike"

"Ha-ha", said Spike sarcasticlly, "Very funny"

"Scan this Reptile, CHIP", said Twilight. CHIP then scanned the flying Creature, accidently startling it with the scanning hologram, "Kongamato. A species of Pterosaur, descended from _Rhamphorhynchus_. These Reptiles are extremely territorial towards anything around their own size"

Lucky for the group, the scan's hologram had frightened the Kongamato away. Rainbow Dash actually felt a little down, for she wanted to challenge this fellow backboned flyer at an air-swooping race. They all decided to search for a more safer place to crash for the night, for the sun was already going down.

_To Be Continued_


	11. More Locals Strike

As the sun was still setting, group was still trekking through the jungle, searching for shelter. The Ponies were satisfied with Grass but the 3 non-Ponies were still incredibly hungry. They kept moving and it eventually became dark, the stars and moon shining overhead. All of a sudden, the sound of twigs snapping was heard in the bushes nearby. The group gasped in fear, including the brave Philomena.

"Is that the big meat-eating Dinosaur?", said Spike in fear, "The Virunga?"

"I don't think it's a Virunga", replied Twilight, "Sounds smaller"

They all then spotted a pair of Walnut-sized, brown-colored eyes, watching them in the underbrush. The Creature made a almost silent-sounding, Ape-like screech.

"It could have retractable claws", said Griffy.

"We should use the Elements of Harmony in defense now", said Rainbow Dash.

"Dashie, Dashie, Dashie", said Spike, shaking his head, "The Elements only harm evil, not naturally dangerous Creatures"

"What if it spits venom", said Rarity in fear, "It could dissolve both my eyes and the beauty of my natural fur color"

"Dissolving eyes?", said Pinkie Pie, "How can I watch out if my eyes are dissolved?"

"Look out before they're dissolved", said Applejack.

"Watching my own eyes makes no sense", said Pinkie in confusion.

"I-I-I-I think its emerging now", stammered Fluttershy in fear.

The Beast slowly walked on all fours out of the bushes and into the light of the moon and then reared up on its hind legs. It looked like a Chimpanzee at 5 feet tall when on its hind legs. CHIP scanned it (the scanning did not frighten the Ape) and identified the species: "Muscle Ape. A large subspecies of Chimpanzee. It is more predatory than the well-known Common Chimpanzee"

"How is that thing dangerous?", asked Twilight, thinking that a Muscle Ape mostly attacks if provoked. But the Muscle Ape was looking very serious in aggression and pounded its fists on the ground, screeching and acting very territorial towards the group.

As the huge Chimp subspecies got ready to pounce, the loud sound of a banging drum was heard from behind the group. The Ape could not stand the noise and rushed away in pain and agony, covering its ears with its hands. Out of the underbrush emerged the reason for the loud drumming, a trio of Mandrills. They wore long Grass skirts and feather-made head dresses. Rainbow recognized them as the species she spotted from the air from earlier.

"Thank you very much!", said Pinkie, bouncing over to the three Monkeys and extended her front leg to shake their hands with her hoof. Two of the Mandrills reached behind their backs and pulled out spears and aimed them at the pink Pony, stopping her dead in her tracks.

The Mandrill who did not have a spear raised his hand and told the two others to not hurt these "outsiders" in their own Mandrill language. He then walked up to Twilight, for he could somehow tell that she was the group's leader.

"Who-a you-a and what-a you-a doing in our-a valley?", asked the Mandrill in a deepish voice, speaking in broken Ponytalk.

"How do you know my kind's language?", asked Twilight in amazement, "Have you been visited by Ponies before?"

The Mandrill nodded in agreement, "Me-a name is-a Rooki. Come with us-a, we-a shall give you-a food and shelter"

_To Be Continued_


	12. The Village

The three Mandrills lead the group to their village, surounded by a 12 foot tall wooden fence for protection from attack. The gate had two Mandrill guardsstanding on two legs their, their spears looking more fierce than the other spears that had been seen with the trio the group had met with a few barbed edges around the spears' heads. The guards also wore football-shaped helmet made from hardened Dinosaur droppings. The two guards soluted with their spears and opened the gate for the 12 Beings to enter.

The village itself was a spectacular sight. The huts were made from wood and bones, a few wooden statues of Mandrill warriors were seen near the center of certain pathways and at the very center of the village was an enormous bonfire party being held with all the village's Mandrills, adults and childern.

"The one reason we-a speak you-a language", said Rooki to the group, "Is-a because there is-a a Pony living with us-a in this-a village"

"There's another Pony here?", said Twilight in amazement.

"He-a live with chieftain", continued Rooki, "He-a teach us-a Mandrills Ponytalk. He-a say he-a got lost from a mission for the guards of some place called Canterlot"

"Canterlot!", exclaimed the travelers in shock.

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Later on, Griffy, Spike and Philomena were given things by the Mandrills to cure their raging hunger. Philomena had freshly-caught Catfish, Spike had some Emela-Ntouka (the new Rhinoceros species from earlier) meat and Griffy had a creamy-tasting Bananna coated with Termites. Twilight told the whole group that they should all speak to the Mandrill chieftain about their mission and perhaps even meet this Pony living here.

"Follow me-a", said Rooki, and he took the 9 to the largest and most decorative hut in the whole village, the chief's hut.

The hut's inside was very elaborate. There were swords, masks and shields hanging on the walls, a small fire pit with a small fire burning in it on the dry Grass-made floor. To the right corner of the room was the chief's bed, made of large leaves, Emela-Ntouka hide and Dinosaur hide. The chief's throne was 9 feet tall, made of wood, carved in the shape of a chair and had two wooden posts around it (one of each side), one having a Muscle Ape skull on top and the other had a Mbielu-Mbielu-Mbielu (the Stegosaur from earlier) skull on top. Sitting on the throne was the chieftain Mandrill, wearing the fanciest feather headress in the whole village. Rooki peeked through the door and gestured his hand to the group to speak to the chief already and pulled his face back outside.

"You-a must be outsiders", said the chief, "Me-a name is-a Guthgon, me-a chieftain of the Mandrills"

"We have come to save your amazing valley, chief", said Twilight, "I'm Twilight Sparkle. And these are my friends, Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, Rarity, Spike and Griffy. The Bird perched on Fluttershy's back is a Phoenix named Philomena and she is escorting us around here"

"What-a do you-a want to save our-a valley from?", asked Guthgon.

"Some mutating natural substance was stolen from a royal city and we need to find it. It was tracked down to your valley and we need to stop whoever is behind all of this", said Spike, looking proud of his speech he just did.

The chief gave a puzzled expression for 4 seconds and then thought of another idea for these travelers.

"Why not you-a meet the Pony who taught me-a species you-a language?", he asked the group with a smile.

Guthgon then whistled and out from behind his throne appeared a very tired-looking, white-colored male Pegasus Pony.

"You know I have a sleeping problem", groaned the Pegasus, "So why wake me up now? It's like 8:00 PM. Wait, travelers from outside this valley?'

He slowly trotted over to the group, eger to meet them all. "Name's Richard. It sure feels good to meet ones who speak my own language again. Hey! Wait a minute, you're Twilight Sparkle, Princess Celestia's best student. And your her best friend, Spike the Dragon. And you're the princess's pet Phoenix, Philomena"

"You must be the one who taught the Mandrills how to speak in Ponytalk", said Griffy.

"And we hear from the Mandrills that you were a part of the Canterlot royal guard", said Rarity, "Until you somehow got lost"

"I was apart of a royal guard team mission to scout out for any sign of paranormal activity in the Everfree Forest at night, 2 or 3 years ago", said Richard, "I got spooked at what I thought was a ghost at first, not knowing that it was only an Owl, and ran away. I then got lost and could not find my way back to the Pony range. I moved deeper and deeper into the forest alone. That's when I came across this ring of tall jagged mountains surounding something and the very center of the forest. I fly up to discover that it was this valley. I was attacked by numerous native predators to this valley and these kind Monkeys with colorful faces took me in and I taught them Ponytalk. I've lived with them ever since"

"Well we're here not so much for you, more as we want to retrieve some stolen venom", said Twilight, "It's a long story about where the venom came from and how it got stolen and brought to this valley"

"Ah think its tahme we all get some shut-eye", yawned Applejack, "We'll do the job in the mornin'"

_To Be Continued_


	13. A Dangerous Morning

After sleeping in Rooki's hut for the night (however, he had the bed while they had the floor to sleep on), the 9 woke up to get ready for the rest of their mission to this valley. Rarity found it very difficult to open her eyes, for she was still believing that without her facial cream and pickle slices, she'd look ugly after sleeping.

"Griffy, do I look okay?", said Rarity to Griffy desperately, opening her eyes.

"You like the same old Rarity", replied the Pygmy Griffin, "Just look at your reflection in that bowl of morning dew water. Sentient Primates seem to have those everywhere"

Rarity looked into the bowl sitting on the window sill and saw her reflection; she looked the same as she did yesterday, in fact, maybe a little better from the jungle air.

"Maybe I should be sleeping in jungles from now on", she appointed, "Just look at my face, it looks a little more beautiful than it was before. Thank's to this fresh, tropical or subtropical breeze"

"I could'nt agree more", said Spike, staring at Rarity with a blissfull face. Griffy immediately bonked Spike's head.

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Rooki took the group to the village center, near the large bonfire pit, so they could have some breakfest. The Ponies were given Violets coated with Guava juice, Philomena and Spike were given freshly killed Moths the size of Squirrels and Griffy was given Tree sap-coated Stork eggs.

"These Violets taste really great", said Twilight, "Especially with the Guava juice on top"

"Hey wait", said Griffy, "Where's Fluttershy? She finished her breakfest and now she's vanished"

"She's over there", pointed out Rainbow Dash. Fluttershy was standing near the tall wooden wall that surrounded the village. She held some leafy branches in her mouth and looking up at a pair of Mokele-Mbembe (the Sauropod from earlier), sticking their long necks over the fence and staring at the branches in Fluttershy's mouth. She wanted to feed them. One of the Mokele-Mbembe yanked the branches out of Fluttershy grasp and then had half of those branches broken off by the other Mokele-Mbembe next to it.

"Are you seriously feeding the Dinosaurs here?", said Spike as he and Griffy walked over to Fluttershy, "Aren't you afraid they will eat you?"

"These are herbivores Spike", said Griffy, "They don't eat fellow Animals, neither dead nor alive"

"And these guys are very gentle", said Fluttershy, flying up and petting one of the Sauropod's snouts and stroke the top of its head. That particular Mokele-Mbembe felt that stroke on its snout and head as tickles and sneazed on the head stroke (due to their nostrils being located near their eyes). Fluttershy flew back down to Spike and Griffy.

"It sure is fun to feed the Dinosaurs here", she said to them, "But I understand that not every Creature in this valley is friendly"

"Don't you mean quote on quote friendly?", asked Griffy.

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Before the 9 could go out of the village to find where the stolen venom was taken to, Rooki told them that they should need a guide to get around the valley safely.

"Why can't Philomena guide us?", asked Griffy, "Wasn't she sent with us to help navigate?"

"Only to outside the valley", replied Twilight, "We may need a local to help us out"

"Here he-a comes", said Rooki, "Jooknar, who-a is-a the greatest hunter in the village, and his-a little daughter, Fuloli"

Walking over to them was a middle-aged male Mandrill with a vine belt that had a dagger held in it. His most noticable attire was his leaf-made eye patch over his right eye. He was followed by a young female Mandrill with a skirt made of brownish green Grass. Fuloli told her father, in their Mandrill language, to be back home safely and he nodded to her.

"We-a going on adventure!", anounced Jooknar in a heroic tone, "You-a going to be-a guided by me-a, the best hunter in this village"

"Great", sighed Applejack, "We're gonna be toured 'rounf bah one of THOSE locals, the crazy ones with the eye patch"

"It must be fun being well known for something brave you did to get that patch!", said Pinkie Pie to Jooknar with a big smile.

"It-a long story", replied Jooknar, his voice at its normal tone, "Now we-a go now!"

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As Jooknar led the 9 travelers through the underbrush, the calls of Birds, Reptiles, Mammals and Non-Avian Dinosaurs echoed all around them all. Jooknar led them all to the edge of a river so the could all get a drink. Philomena looked up and saw something extremely bizarre arrivingon the other side of the river. Out of the undergrowth walked a small herd of Pony-sized Elephants, also looking for a drink.

The rest of the group looked up to see these puny Pachyderms. Spike reached into AJ's bag, pulled out CHIP and scanned one of the little Elephants.

"Pygmy Elephant", said CHIP, "I small variety of Elephant, descended from larger species by shrinking, primarily due to enviromental conditions"

"Aaaawww", said Pinkie, "They look kind of cute!"

"Do not be-a tempted to hug", interjected Jooknar, "It-a is-a their-a baby-having season, and mothers get very protective of their-a newborn calves"

Suddenly, the Pygmy Elephants began to act nervous, they could sense danger approaching. The Elephants bellowed in alaram and started to move away from the river and back into the jungle. The group then saw what was startling them. Something was moving in the nearby underbrush. Out from those rustling bushes leaped a Muscle Ape, that large agressive Chimpanzee, looking very hungry. Jooknar pulled out his dagger and snarled at the Ape. The Muscle Ape saw the six Ponies, young Dragon, Griffin, Phoenix and Monkey standing on the bank on the other side of the river. It got ready to kill and eat them all. Just as it started to sprint on all fours across the river to reach them, an enormous Crocodile-like Reptile with 9-foot jaws leaped up out of the murky water and snapped shut on the Chimp, quickly slaughtering it and dragging its catch down.

"W-W-What was th-th-that?", stammered Rainbow Dash in a fear-filled voice.

"Mahamba", replied Jooknar.

Griffy spotted one of the Crocodilian's scales had accidently flaked off and he used CHIP to scan this DNA scale sample from the Reptile. Just to get more information on it.

"Mahamba", spoke CHIP, "A massive, 40-foot long Crocodile cousin descended from the now extinct _Sarcosuchus_. It lies in wait in murky rivers and lakes to ambush its prey"

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Once the group began to move along, Philomena spotted something approaching and squawked in fear. She flew in front of the rest of the group and tried describing what she was seeing through body language. She walked on the ground, hunching her back over, flapping her wings and making hiss-like squawks.

"Pirate Ponies?", guessed Pinkie, "Space Worms?"

"Space Worms?", said Griffy, "Somepony's been watching to many scifi movies and reading too many comic books"

Just then, the thing Philomena was discribing swooped down from the air and snatched up Spike in its claws. It was a Kongamato, the Pterosaur from earlier, and it was carrying the strugling young Dragon high into the sky.

"HEEELLPP!", he screamed in fear.

"Spike!", shouted Twilight with concern for her best friend, "Griffy, Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, try and stop that flying Reptile from devouring Spike!"

"But I don't want to fight it", mumbled Fluttershy.

"And cold-blooded flyers, for some reason, scare me", said Griffy.

"I guess I'll have to do it", anounced Rainbow and she darted right into the air, "Heres comes something I like to call the "Rainbattle Slash!"

_To Be Continued_


	14. Evil & Instinctual Terror

Rainbow Dash zoomed into the air at great velocity, ready to rescue Spike from the Kongamato.

Back on the ground, Twilight found it quite bizarre (after doing research on the scanned life forms in CHIP's internal systems) that a Kongamato was trying to something that was as big as Spike that was still alive.

Rainbow bolted forward, nearly knocking the Pterosaur off course. The attacker then dropped Spike on top of a tall Tree intentionally so it could focus on this obvious battle. Rainbow Dash and the Kongamato fought violently in the air, Rainbow bucking the Reptile from time to time with her hind legs and the Kongamato biting her front legs from time to time with its long beak and jagged teeth. That's when Rainbow spotted what was causing this Kongamato's unusual predatory aggression towards something as big as Spike, a scar on its left back leg was letting out what looked like black fumes. This mysterious-looking scar was making the Kongamato's eyes look very pain-filled.

"It's as if someone's making you do this", said the Pegasus to the Reptile, haulting her battling and looking more carefully at her competiter, seeing its whole face look very pain-filled.

Back in the Tree, Spike fell out and onto the dirt. Twilight quickly rushed over to him and hugged the little Dragon tightly, nearly strangling him.

"Twilight", gasped Spike, "You're choking me". She let go of him and looked up to see how Rainbow Dash was doing.

The Kongamato then tried to rip Rainbow Dash's wings off with its long and jagged teeth, but Rainbow immediately bucked it in the chest, accidently breaking its right wing. The Reptile sqawked in pain as it fell to the ground. It tried to stnad up on all four of its limbs (legs and wings), but kept falling over.

"Don't be tempted to help it-a", said Jooknar to the group, "Kongamatos are-a very unpredictable and.."

"It needs help badly!", said Fluttershy, worried for the Pterosaur's condition. She completely ignored the Mandrill and rushed over to injured flying Reptile, scanning its 6-foot wingspan and its blackish red skin color (the greenish one from earlier was an older individual).

Rainbow flew down, worried for her violence towards the Reptile's delicate wings.

"It's all right Mr. Kongamato", said Fluttershy softly, "Dr. Fluttershy is here"

"Not to mention me", added Griffy, "Nurse Griffy"

After they had put some leaves around the broken wingbone, they knew that the bandage would eventually fall off after proper healing and flight.

"Now what with that smokey scar?", asked Pinkie, wondering about that bizarre thing on the Kongamato's leg that Rainbow had pointed out.

"It's an Interrigation Mark", said Twilight, realizing what it was, "Only thoses who are truely wicked at heart can do this. It does not mind control the victim, but rather force it to do the job while giving the victim incredible pain"

Twilight then used some of her most purest good heart magic on the scar, making the smoke disapper and the cut itself to magically heal. The Kongamato got back up, looked at the 10 Beings and just did a small flying up to a small Tree's top to relax until its wing got better.

As the group moved on, hoping to find the venom soon, Spike was feeling rather aggressive, in fact more agressive than he usually gets. He looked at Rainbow Dash's left hind leg and strangely found it mouth-watering. The next thing Rainbow knew it, sharp teeth were biting on her leg.

"Um, excuse me?", she said, turning her head around to see Spike'es mouth biting her ankle, "Your chewing on me"

Spike suddenly realized this and let go, a little embaressed. "What was that for?", Rainbow asked him.

"I-I-I-I never felt this lethal", stammered Spike in embaressment, "Maybe my natural instincts are kicking in. I'll try and eat Bugs insteed of gems and you guys"

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Meanwhile, not far away, Chop and Digger were all ready pushing through the valley's dense undergrowth.

"So why are we leaving that nice cave with the big Birdy?", asked Chop.

"Because we need to stall the 8 heroes", replied Digger, "Plus, they have been joined by a Phoenix and local Mandrill, that's what I heard. Also, you should remember that we are looking for that Kongamato that the master used that Interrigation Mark on"

"Say", said Chop curiously, "Can you practice that Dark Death Spell again?"

"But the last time I did that, my nerves nearly exploded", snapped Digger, "But I shall try again right now"

So the two genetic mutant Ponies stopped, and Digger tried his Unicorn Pony magic out. He began to push out the Dark Death Spell. The dark spherical ball that was made from the spell was becoming more and more stronger out of his horn, that Digger's eyes began to glow purple and his breath was colored red. Eventually, the ord disappeared and Digger's eyes and breath turned back to normal.

"You just like to see it don't you?", hissed Digger.

Chop nodded with a happy smile and then got pinched by one of Digger's Crab-like pincers.

That's when the two spotted the group up on a nearby hill and got ready to attack. The group spotted them and tryed to hide behind the Trees.

"Who-a are they-a?", asked Jooknar.

"Chop and Digger", replied Rarity, "They are two genetically-altered Ponies that cause trouble wherever they go"

"Wait!", spoke Twilight with an inspired face, "I got an idea to get them out of here. We perform Operation: Flirtatious Attack"

"Oh viingizui", sighed Griffy to Spike, "I know where this is going. Chop and Digger are a year and two years older than the girls, so they'll be mostly unable to escape this operation"

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

As Chop and Digger scouted around the clearing that hill was near, Chop used his altered Earth Pony strength to make a tiny tremor by stomping.

"You could have knocked me over!", shouted Digger in anger, "Oh, and I just sensed some other Unicorn Ponies, like me, use teleportation. They must have gotten away"

"Howdy, ya'll!", called out a familiar voice. The two looked to see Applejack walking out of the underbrush, cocking her head while she looked at the two mutant Ponies, "Ya'll both look lahke strong young stallions"

Chop suddenly blushed as AJ stroked her tail along his side.

"Whatever you are trying to pull off", snapped Digger, looking AJ straight in the eye, "It will not work!"

"Oh c'mon", said Applejack in a seductive-sounding version of her own voice, stroking one of Digger's Spider-like hooves gently, "Ah reckon that ya'll will love to hang 'round at Sweet Apple Acres with me"

Digger also started blush and get worried. "My cheeks are burning! Chop, We must escape! Our hormones are taking place!"

Chop just chuckled as Applejack winked at him.

"Come now, you fool!", hissed Digger, pushing Chop away from AJ and back into the jungle.

All of a sudden, the two spotted Fluttershy sitting on a boulder in front of (only 10 feet away), her long, pink mane flowing in the soft breeze, the small Birds flying around her and the sunlight shining through the leaves down on her.

"Hello", said Fluttershy sweetly, walking over to Chop and Digger, acting a bit shy, "You look very unique, for Ponies like me"

"Aw, she's cute", said Chop, smiling.

"Do not be seduced by this girl's natural adorableness", said Digger, blushing at Fluttershy's calm and sweet behaviour to towards them both, "Excuse us miss, but me and my partner here have to go somewhere. Now come Chop, NOW!"

The two tredged deeper, only to find Pinkie Pie in a small clearing, rolling around in the grass and humming cutely. Once the two mutants poked their heads through the Trees, Pinkie stopped rolling and bounced over to them, humming the MLP theme song. She stopped, looked at both of them and fluttered her eyes while bashfully twitching her head.

"Oh no!", cried Digger, "My cheeks are burning hot again!"

"You're cute!", said Chop, his tongue hanging out, his cheeks were blushing and his eyes looking blissfull.

"Stop being more easily seduced you idiot!", snapped Digger.

"You two are funny", giggled Pinkie. She then stroked her head against Chop's head.

"RUN!", shouted Digger, grabbing Chop by the tail and pulling him back into the jungle.

The two ran for the top of a Treeless hill, thinking they were safe. That's when they discovered Rarity behind them, once they turned around.

"Would you two mind carrying my bags next time I go on a shopping trip, for me. Please?", asked Rarity sweetly, fluttering her eyes.

"Duh-Huh!", chuckled Chop, happily, "What's shopping?"

"Never mind him", said Digger, "I believe he dropped out of school at a very young age"

"You look like a fine specimen", said Rarity seductively, walking over to Digger's side and stroking her tail on him.

"Oh no!", paniced Digger, "I not only feel my cheeks burning, but I also feel sweat coming from my skin! Chop! Let's move!"

The two ended up accidently tumbling down the hill, and eventually found themselves at the hill's base, lying in front of Rainbow Dash.

"Hey guys", said Rainbow, seductively, "How's it going?".

And with that, she turned and gave them both a wink.

"When will this hormonal nightmare end?", wailed Digger.

"Duh-huh, she's hot, Digger!", chuckled Chop, blissfully.

Digger then desperately teleported both himself and Chop back into the jungle. The two then found themselves in the presence of Twilight Sparkle, sitting on a small, flat boulder, looking at CHIP, transformed in the shape of an open book.

"Will you two be my study buddies?", asked Twilight, looking up at the two and making an innocent and adorable expression.

"Aaawww", said Chop, bashfully, "I don't know what to say"

"THAT DOES IT!", shouted Digger, "You and I are teleporting out of this primeval valley right now!"

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After the two mutant Ponies were gone from the valley, the girls met back at that hill were they first planned the operation. Philomena and Griffy flew down from the Trees and Jooknar climbed down, holding Spike.

"Good thing I'm not a Pony", said Griffy, "Or else I'd be seduced by my own friends"

_To Be Continued_


	15. New Discoveries

"So Jooknar", Pinkie Pie asked Jooknar as the whole group continued to move through the jungle, "How exactly did you get that eye patch?"

"You-a really want to know?", said Jooknar. He then haulted the whole group and jumped up on a rock, "Me-a was battling a huge Snake called Nguma-Monene. One of it-a teeth broke off and me-a use it-a as a dagger"

He then pulled out that dagger he had been carrying this whole time, showing it as a 5 inch long Snake fang. CHIP scanned the tooth dagger and identified. "Nguma-Monene. A 30-foot long predatory Snake, descended from the now extinct _Gigantophis_"

"It-a bite me-a", continued Jooknar, "But it-a was a dry bite, me-a had pulled me-a own body away before venom was injected. That when Snake's tooth fell off. Me-a now use it-a as weapon. Me-a also put this-a leaves around me-a head to give me-a eye patch to hide me-a scar left from Nguma-Monene tooth"

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The whole group continued through the valley and suddenly encountered a group of strange-looking black objects hanging from a tall Tree.

"Careful", whispered Jooknar, "Olitiau sleep during the day"

CHIP scanned the hanging Creatures and indentified them. "Olitiau. An enormous species of black-colored Bat with sharp teeth and is nocturnal, like most Bats"

CHIP's speaking accidently woke up two of the Olitiau, and the two Bats poke their heads out of their wings and looked at the group with tired eyes. One of them hissed and they both went back to sleep.

"We-a should go now and not wake them-a all up!", said Jooknar, worryingly.

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Just a little further on, the group ended up in a small swamp. Here, a bunch of those Stegosaurids from earlier, called Mbielu-Mbielu-Mbielu, were nesting near the creek.

"Oh look!", said Fluttershy with happiness, "Some of the eggs are already hatching". And she was right, some of the nests' eggs were already hatching, little baby Mbielu-Mbielu-Mbielu breaking out of their shells.

"Can I go help them hatch?", Fluttershy asked Jooknar sweetly.

"What world do you-a come from?", said Jooknar, "They-a break out of their-a egg shells all on their-a own"

"The Monkey is right, you know", Griffy whispered in Fluttershy's ear.

The mother Mbielu-Mbielu-Mbielu walked over to their clutches and licked their hatchlings, bathing them in their own saliva to scent mark them as their own children.

"Ah still can't believe these spahked and plated Dahnos are herbivores, like us Ponies, 'cause they look pretty nasty"

"They still can be dangerous if they need to be", replied Twilight, "The long spikes along their tails are used for defense against predators. It's strange because they can use their spikes and make a devistating effect, despite having a Walnut-sized brain"

All of a sudden, out of the bushes nearby, came a huge Tarantual-like Spider the size of Domestic Dog, eger to eat some newly hatched Dinosaurs. CHIP scanned and identified. "J'ba Fofi. One of the biggest Arthropods, or exoskeletal Animals, to ever exist. It has venom, like most Arachnids, and often goes after Creatures smaller than itself: Mice, Rats, small Lizards, Bushbabies and large Dinosaur hatchlings"

"We got to help the poor little babies!", paniced Pinkie Pie.

"No", interupted Fluttershy, realizing what was best to be done, "Was must not interfear with the predator-prey cycle. Wow, I can't believe I'm actually saying that"

The J'ba Fofi sunk its fangs into one of the Mbielu-Mbielu-Mbielu hatchlings, injected venom, killing the victim and using digestive juices to disolve its catch from the inside. The mother of that nest was feeding on Shrubs and turned around to notice this attack. She lumbered as quickly as she could, scaring the nest-raider away and back into the underbrush.

That's when Philomena started after the huge Spider, curious about it.

"Princess Celestia will kill me for losing Philomena", moaned Twilight as she and the other followed Philomena following the J'ba Fofi.

"Remember? She's easy going", reminded Griffy, "I know Celestia as much as you do"

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Philomena, driven by her curiosity, followed the huge Spider deep into the jungle, flying as fast as she could. The J'ba Fofi haulted and turned around to see the fiery-looking Bird trailing it from behind. It then decided to have her for it's secondary meal. Pretty soon, the huge Spider, chased the poor Phoenix into a small log. Philomena hid inside perfectly, bu the J'ba Fofi uld not squeeze in through after her. Suddenly, the Spider froze still and was hoisted up into the airby its abdomen by something large. Philomena could not see this bigger Creature, but she could tell right away that the dangling J'ba Fofi was already dead. She crept out the log from the other end, looked up and saw a terrifying sight: a massive, 30-foot long, muddy red-colored Snake with tiny spines running along its long vertebrae. Its upper body half was reared up and dangling from its mouth was the dead J'ba Fofi. This was the species that Jooknar had encountered a while back, Nguma-Monene.

_To Be Continued_


	16. Not an Entirely Ruthless Killer

The group searched, calling for Philomena. Philomena, meanwhile, was flying as fast as she could through the tangled undergrowth. The Nguma-Monene was slithering after her very quickly despite its size. The huge Snake had already devoured that J'ba Fofi Spider, but it was still hungry. It chased after the Phoenix, flickering its tongue and snapping its jaws at the Bird whenever it got closer. Philomena finally found the group and hid behind Jooknar for safety, quivering in fear.

"Don't worry", anounced the Mandrill heroiclly, "Me-a can handle this-a situation"

But as the Nguma-Monene revealed itself out of the undergrowth, Jooknar got very scared.

'It's a Nguma-Monene!", said Spike in awe, "You tangled with one before, Jooknar, so battle this one"

"Me-a actually afraid", said Jooknar, terrifyed, "Me-a had vowed never to mess with-a big Snake ever again"

"Maybe this huge Snake needs a hug. He looks cranky and unhappy", suggested Fluttershy, starting to walk towards the large, limbless Reptile.

"HOLD ON!", shouted Griffy, pulling Fluttershy back, "Things like this Creature are things that even you, the nature whisperer, can't handle"

Griffy then tried to scare the massive Snake away by doing his natural threat display by jumping around, ruffling his fur and feathers and roar-squawking fiercely, but the Reptile was unimpressed. The Nguma-Monene then started to chase them all, hissing ferociously.

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The group stopped after running for 20 meters, there was no sight of their persuer anywhere.

"I think we lost it", said Rarity.

"Well then", said Pinkie Pie, "Let's keep looking for that venom!". But just as she started to walk, she bumped into a Tree-like object.

"That's odd", she said, "This Tree trunk wasn't here before". In fact, this did not feel like a Tree at all. It felt more like thick, scaly skin rather than bark and its base had three large toes with claws. Pinkie looked up, shivering in fear to see that it was the leg of a Virunga (that large meat-eating Dinosaur from earlier), looking down at the group with hungry eyes and a drooling mouth. It roared at them and began to chase them back the way they were already running from.

Rainbow Dash stopped and though she could battle this big predatory Dinosaur. She tried dive-bombing it in the gut and back, but the Dinosaur was unharmed.

"Uh-oh", paniced Rainbow, rushing back to the others as they kept running away, "It's stronger than me. I'm weaker than it!"

They then encountered the same Nguma-Monene chasing them from a minute ago and then found themselvs in the middle of two huge predators: A large Theropod Dinosaur and a large Snake. The two carnivores then ignored the group of 10 and focused on each other. The Nguma-Monene wanted to just ward away this larger predator and the Virunga just wanted something to eat. The 10 hid behind the Trees and watched the two big predators battle for survival.

"This is amazing", said Twilight, intrigued in what she and the others were whitnessing, "Normally big predators avoid each other, but this looks like a time when they have those rare clash-offs"

The two carnivores nipped and bit each other constantly. The Virunga finally grabbed the Nguma-Monene by the throat with its teeth and used its three-fingered clawed arms to tear at the Snake's side. The Dinosaur then slammed the dead Reptile to the ground and roared victoriously. The group wanted to move out of the area, but it was hard with this big hunter around so they had to wait until it ate its fill. Oddly, the Virunga only at the Nguma-Monene's upper body half, picked up the lower end with its jaws and began to carry it away.

"I don't it", said Griffy, puzzled, "Why isn't it devouring the rest of the carcass?"

"To find out", said Jooknar, "We-a follow that Virunga"

The whole group followed the big, two-legged Dinosaur, unseen in the undergrowth. Where the big meat-eater was going with the rest of the big dead Snake remained a mystery. They finally found the massive Theropod stop in a large clearing with a hill of medium-sized boulders at the clearing's very edge. It looked around for any possible threats, dropped the carcass to the ground and made a few small roars from the back of its throat.

"Hhhhmmm, how very similar", wondered Fluttershy outloud, "When mother Lions make that sort of call, it's usually for their cubs to come out of hiding"

Fluttershy's comparison hypothesis was right, out from within those protective-looking boulders came 4 Virunga hatchlings, making tiny, squeak-like roars. Their scales were pale orange-colored and their bodies were mostly covered in fuzz-like down (like what you see with baby Birds). The little hatchlings ran over to their mother and began to devour the rest of the carcass she had brought for them. Even at their age, the youngster acting a little ferocious and competitve with each other.

"Well what do you?", said Rarity with a smile, "She was bringing the rest of her kill back for her offspring. How the carrying kindness of a mother can bring her to kill things for her little ones"

"They're covered in down?", puzzled Flutteshy, "Like with baby Birds?"

"Well you see; Birds, like Philomena here, are also Theropods", said Griffy, remembering the data he had stored in the archives beneath his Tree back in Ponyville, "All Theropods, both Avian and non-Avian, start out with down"

As the group began to turn around and leave the Virunga family in peace, Spike began to pick up a familiar scent coming from far off in the distance. "I think I smell the venom", he said, "I-I think it's that way, c'mon!"

_To Be Continued_


	17. Meet Goliath

Spike tracked down the scent of the venom all the way to a massive, 50-foot high cave in the face of one of the mountains that formed the valley's barrier, isolating it from the rest of the Everfree Forest. For some reason, Jooknar began to back away, looking terrified, and zoomed up a Tree. "Me-a wait here. Me-a hear tales of bad things happening in that-a cave", he called down to the group.

Wondering what was scaring that colorful-faced Monkey to stay in that Tree, the group went into the huge cave to find the venom. All of a sudden, as soon as they had all walked 30 feet into the cave, the whole place begna to fill with a horrible-smelling green gas. It smelt like a mixture of rotten Cabbage and Skunk spray. The nasty smell began to put the 9 to sleep.

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Meanwhile, on top of the valley's mountain barrier, that strange Roc from last time was discussing something important with Kurayami, the master of all evil, in its true cloud-like form with eyes. Kurayami was not bruning at all in the light of the sun, because immortality can master anything.

"I think the Stink Machine worked", said the Roc, "I can feel the machine's vibrations working, you've got them now! It was great working with you, great evil Entity, but must now be on my way and leave this primeval neverland that makes up the Everfree Forest's heart"

But just as the huge Bird-Of-Prey began to take off, Kurayami made its Genie-like tail shapeshift into a giant Orangutan arm and grabbed the big Bird by the tail. "You are not finished with your task yet, you feathered fool", spoke Kurayami, "I will need you to do the science of mutation from the venom for me, for I need to feed off the fear of the heroes to keep strong"

"What's in it for me?", questioned the Roc.

"A very good question", hissed Kurayami. Suddenly the evil Being casted out a paralysis beam of power at the Roc, making his wings unable to move. "Let us discuss it", continued the evil Being. Kurayami then tossed the Roc high into the air. The poor Bird suddenly found himself falling through the clouds and back down toward the ground from hundreds of feet above. He paniced and squawked in fear. As he fell, Kurayami appeared beside him, floating down at the Roc's falling speed, acting like nothing was going on.

"I certainly see your point", said Kurayami as it watched the panicing Bird, "But what else could I possibly do for you in return other than give you your reputation back in Canterlot?"

"Save me! Save me!", wailed the Roc in great fear.

"Now that is a thought, yes", replied Kurayami, calmly like nothing was going on still, "But is it enough? I do not want to feel like I am cheeting you"

"I'll do it! I'll do it!", paniced the Roc. That's when Kurayami broke the spell and the Roc could feel his wings and he used them to fly down safely.

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Back in the cave, the 9 travelers woke up to find themselves trapped inside a gigantic metal cage with tall and thick bars. The cage itself was hanging from the cave's ceiling by a big and long chain.

"How did we end up here?", said Griffy, puzzled.

"Should we have listened to Jooknar?", asked Spike in a worried tone.

"Well this metal thing is not good for cuddly sleeping like a cushiony bed", said Pinkie Pie.

"Ah've been in hard and rough places", said Applejack, "But none lahke this"

"This place is very scary", cowered Fluttershy.

"These bars look to tough, even for somepony like me", sighed Rainbow Dash.

"This definately does not make my face look gorgeous", said Rarity.

"Who's responsible for this madness?", shouted out Twilight, looking around for any possible living threats.

Philomena squawked as fiercely as she could to sound frightening.

Twilight suddenly noticed what looked like a painting (painted from different kinds of mixtures of alcohol and juice) on the cave wall, but the cage hung a little too far away from the wall and it was to dark to see clearly. She used some of her magic to make a light so she could see. Once she could finally see the odd painting she nearly gasped at what it was: a poorly-painted image of Princess Celestia with an inscription wirtten above in more paint that said "My so-called best friend".

"I see you all have awakened", spoke a familiar voice from the shadows. Out bolted that Roc, landing right on the cages side, clinging on with his talons and looking in. He looked quite ugly, with his eyes looking drowsy and bags underneath them. The whole group shrieked in both fear and disgust once they saw his face in the light. Griffy definately recognized him as the same Roc that he encountered back on his lonely journey for a new home.

"Name's Goliath", snickered the massive Bird, "I know I'm not a pretty Birdie. But I used to be quite a looker"

Goliath then flew over to the cave wall, used his beak to pull a strong hanging from above, making a large hanging lamp from above turn on and revealing a poster on the wall of Goliath looking quite hansome. The poster said "Goliath, Avian superstar of all time"

"This can't be good", gulped Spike.

_To Be Continued_


	18. Goliath's Secret

The whole group was puzzled, Goliath the Roc was showing that he had come from Canterlot and that he wanted revenge. The poster of himself looking younger and hansome was a big clue as well as the poorly painted image of Celestia on the wall that said "My so called Friend".

"Thoses were the glory days". said Goliath to the group, still stuck in that huge hanging cage, "Lights...Camera...Action"

He then broke out into a muscial number.

The Following is a parody of "Pretty Bird" from the Blue Sky Studios movie "Rio":

_I was strikingly cool_

_Ambitious_

_Feet to beak!_

_So Bird-a-licious_

_Now I'm vile, I am villianous_

_And vicious, oh yeah, and malicious_

_I had it all in Canterlot, even a TV show_

_All the lady Rocs loved me too_

_I was Celestia's best friend and pet, to give you a clue_

_Then, on one of Celestia's birthdays, she got a little Phoenix and that filled my shoes_

_I then deserted Canterlot, worked for some Ogres for a while, ditched them to be a rogue_

_Because of that Phoenix, I do what I do!_

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The rest of the song was lost, due to Applejack making a racket in trying to buck the bars down with her hind legs.

"Those bars are made of chrome and steel", said Goliath, "And also, that cage will continue to contain all of you, even the Elements of Harmony cannot break it with some dark energy surrounding it all. I'll let you all rot in there until you all are as ugly as me"

"U-u-u-u-ug-l-l-l-ly?", stammered Rarity in shock. The huge, Eagle-like Bird flew over to the cage and glared at Rarity with a sinister grin.

"Well, you think our think our intelligence will rot as well?", said Griffy, "Well I can still recall a few things I've recently learned, like there being two species of Giant Scorpion in the world"

"Hey, Wait a minute!", shouted Goliath, catching sight of Philomena, "You're Philomena! That Phoenix who made my life miserable! The one Celestia dumped me for!"

"Well looks like you've made a come back", said Philomena in her squawking language.

"Don't call it a come back!", shouted Goliath, understanding her, "I've been there for years! Having many peers, putting attackers of Canterlot in fear! Making their tears rain down like a monsoon! Just listen to my angry go boom! I'll take this itty bitty world by storm, and I'm just getting warm!"

"So you say you're gonna knock me out?", questioned Philomena, in her squawks.

"I sure am going to knock you out!", snapped Goliath, "For good! I'll deal with you first!"


	19. An Interrupted Fight

Goliath used his beak to open a hidden hatch on the cage's floor, reached his large foot in and grabbed Philomena with his long talons, pulling her out of the cage and locking that hatch again.

"I will deal with you 8 after I deal with this Phoenix!", shouted Goliath, fiercely, "She ruined my life!". He then pressed his face against Philomena's, his face being many times bigger than her face, "We'll settle this outside"

Goliath then began to fly out of the cave with Philomena struggling in his clutches. She tried to use her fire powers on him, but since he was working for darkness, Kurayami had given him an invisible force field shield of evil energy all around his body, nearly impossible to break through. He then reached the outside and flew to the top of the mountain barrier of the valley.

"Now I'm gonna knock you out", hissed Goliath releasing Philomena out of his clutches.

"Well Celestia said I should probably knock out any who challenge me for evil purposes", replied Philomena, in her squawking words, "So the princess said to knock you out!"

The two Birds started to battle violently in air, Goliath trying to slash Philomena with his beak and claws while Philomena used her fire powers to defend herself and attempt to strike goliath.

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Meanwhile, back in the cave and the huge cage, the 8 friends were panicing of what might happen to Philomena and themselves. Twilight then noticed something in the shadows. Using her glowing light spell to see in the dark, she saw that it was the jar of stolen Meg-Ant venom sitting on a huge stool. The stool was right next to a massive cell door on the wall, containing one of each kind of native Creature to the valley. These particular Creatures, however, had glowing yellow eys and had waving, Squid-like tentacles on their backs.

"I think I figured out what the evil plan really is, guys", Twilight said to her 7 friends, "Goliath and Kurayami obviously plan to mutate these unique Animals and use them all in and army to destroy all Pony nations"

"You are most certainly right, Sparkle", hissed a deep voice from the shadows, "I, Kurayami, hired Goliath to do most of the work for me. You all cannot break out of that cage because there is dark energy surrounding it"

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Meanwhile, outside the valley in the rest of the Everfree Forest, Chop and Digger were searching for a way to get free from the forest until they encountered a familiar face: Ratty the Rat, who also works for Kurayami, lying on a leaf-made hamoc and drink juice from a coconut.

"Ratty?", said both Chop and Digger at the same time, "What are you doing?"

"It's my month-long vacation away from evil duties", replied the creepy-looking Rat, "Chill out you two"

Little did Chop, Digger and Ratty know was that nearby, three Pygmy Griffins were sneaking past them, trying not to be seen or heard. These three were Griffy's siblings: His twin sister Oshlie, his younger sister Crosty and his older brother Jason. The three spoke to each other in their native Gabbagonian language.

"So why are we outside of Gabbagon again?", Crosty asked Oshlie.

"I feel that Griffy needs our help, 'cause I heard that he and his new friends have traveled to the mysterious heart of the Everfree Forest to retrieve something", replied Oshlie.

"I'm always up for an adventure", added Jason.

The three kept moving through the tangled undergrowth until they reached the mountain barrier of the valley. They could smell their brother's scent and started to fly up the mountains' sides to reach the top.

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Back up on the highest peaks of the barrier's mountains, Goliath had finally managed to catch Philomena in his talons again and pinned her to the face of one of the mountains, ready to finally kill her and possibly get his reputation back with Celestia.

"THIS!", he squawked ferociously at the poor Phoenix, "IS MY MOMENT OF GLORY!"

All of a sudden dark clouds randomly popped all around the battling pair and Kurayami appeared from them, looking very displeased.

"YOU SAID THAT YOU WOULD CAPTURE ALL THE ONES WHO WOULD STOP OUR PLAN!", thundered Kurayami, pointing with its ghost-like tail at the three Pygmy Griffins some distance away, not really seeming to notice the dark evil clouds, believing it to be a regular storm.

"But", said Goliath, trying to sound serious, "They're not really with the team"

"But still", spoke Kurayami, sounding very untrustworthy, "I do not me and my Demons here can trust you anymore, Goliath"

"No", gasped Goliath in shock, unwhitingly letting Philomena go. He then tried to sound angry, "No no no. You promised me that I would be back as Celestia's companion!"

"You will have to deal with this plan on your own", interupted the evil Entity. It then turned to the two Bat/Gargoyle-like Demons who stole the venom in the first place, "Vici, Garvla, we are leaving this fool to deal with the situation on his own, not knowing how it shall all work". And then, the three of them poofed away and the clouds vanished. Goliath was left just flying near that particular mountain, feeling worried and wondering how being independently evil would work out.

"I might as well check on the prisoners", sighed the Roc, "They must be begging for mercy right now. Wait a minute! Great, I lost the Phoenix! Yet another reason to head back to the cave now, to kill Philomena: the one birthday present for Celestia that ruined my life!"

_To Be Continued_


	20. Love Overcomes All

Back in the cave, Philomena beat Goliath to reaching it first and tried to find some way to free the gang. Biting the bars was no good use and even the Elements of Harmony could not pierce the evil energy surrounding the whole cage. The evil energy began to creep into Griffy, Spike and Fluttershy's brains, making them hallucinate in things that they dreaded the most.

Fluttershy began to hear so many around her call her a shy wimp and were all about to throw her into a Coliseum-like stadium. the huge cage door that was also in the arena opened up, and out charged a 40,000-foot high, two-legged, nearly hairless, purple-skinned Ape with long claws on its fingers and toes, long sharp saber teeth and glowing orange eyes with no pupils; It had the skeleton of an adult Dragon and the pieces of a Redwood in its clutches from its last meal and even the skull of an Ursa major was burped out of the Ape's mouth. This was that extinct predatory Beast, worse than anything else on the planet, often nicknamed as "the Alicorns' mistake", said to be the unholy offspring of lightning and death itself according to old folklore: The Human. She screamed in terror and fainted.

Griffy began to see his 7 friends begin to be slashed one by one by humungous knife from nowhere. He was so shocked, then he began to cry that his closet friends (the six Ponies and Spike) were gone forever. He found what looked like a photograph lying next to him. He picked it up looked at it with his sad blue eyes and then began to wheep some more to see that it was a photo of him, Spike and the Ponies, all posing for a group picture, looking happy. He then started to think about all the goods times he had had with them all, his heart broken.

Spike began to see Twiligth pressuring him with way to many duties and treating him more a slave than a friend. She then snapped at him, yelling that she would rather be friends a butter knife than be a friend to him. She also told him in a very cruel and harsh way that she only came to Ponyville to make "friends", meaning he was never liked by her. Spike tried to tell her that it was to make friends of her own species, but she rufesed to listen, causing the poor Dragon to cry of a broken heart.

All of a sudden, both Griffy, Spike and Fluttershy snapped right out of their hallucinations and were relieved that it was all imaginary. Spike made a sigh of relief to know that Twilight still cared for him as a friend. Griffy leapt towards Fluttershy and hugged her while shedding tears of joy. "You're not really dead!", he said with sheer joy to his closest female friend.

"Of course I'm not", replied Fluttershy calmly, "I'm just glad that no Humans have attempted to eat me"

"You do realize that those nightmarish Apes are extinct, right?", continued Griffy, "By the way, I think we had those horrific hallucinations from those evil fumes surrounding this huge cage.

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Back outside the cave, Goliath was almost to the cave's point, his flying speed at full maximum now. "CELESTIA'S GREATEST MISTAKE", shouted out the Roc as loud as he could, "WAS GETTING PHILOMENA AS A BIRTHDAY GIFT IN ORDER TO RUIN MY LIFE!"

He all of a sudden haulted in mid flight, feeling his stomach growling. "_Looks like I will have to go eat before I battle_", he thought to himself, "_I'll find som really big carrion, then I'll kill those heroes and my nemesis, Philomena_"

Just as soon as flew away in another direction to find food, Griffy's three siblings snuck past threw the air and found the cave, tracking Griffy's scent. When they got inside the massive cave, they spotted the big hanging cage with their brother, his friends inside with a Phoenix pecking at the bars.

"Griffy!", called out Griffy's siblings in unison.

"Guys!", exclaimed Griffy with relief in Gabbagonian, "You tracked down my scent, didn't you?"

"Hey, it's Oshlie!", said Spike, "And these two must be Griffy's older brother and younger sister"

"Jason and Crosty", said Oshlie in Ponytalk (the Pony language), introducing her other two siblings, since they did not know any Ponytalk.

"You seem to be trapped", said Crosty, "Now that's not fun at all"

"Not fun?", replied Griffy, "Always looking for fun, just like Pinkie"

"They say there is one thing to break evil barriers like this one around this cage", said Oshlie, remembering something from her research of life.

"Sports?", suggested Jason.

"No", said Oshlie, "Love! And we care deeply for our brother as a good siblings and his friends here"

So Philomena and Griffy's three siblings began to hit the cage's bars with their body sides, thinking about how much they cared for the trapped prisoners. After many body whacks, both the evil energy shield and the cage's metal, broke instantly. The trapped gang jumped out to safety. "That's the power of love!", shouted Pinkie Pie happily. But then they all realized that their mission was not successful yet. They still had to get the venom back and do something about the contained mutated Creatures and Goliath.

"Even my prehistoric ancestors, Proto-Griffins, never had problems this hard", moaned Griffy.

_To Be Continued_


	21. The Mental Realm

As the 12 Beings approached the tall cage door, they all felt very catious seeing the many genetically-mutated valley Creatures with their glowing yellow eyes and many Squid-like tentacles extending and wiggling from their backs.

"Poor things", said Rarity, "The only known way to reverse the effect of the Mega-Ant venom's genetic mutations is certain hospital surgery"

"Could love be another way?", asked Fluttershy, "For it seemed to be the cure for destroying that barrier of evil energy"

"You can try, Flutter", said Griffy, backing up away with the rest of the group excluding Fluttershy, "But I kind of doubt it'll work"

As soon as they all backed away for safety, Fluttershy walked right up to the big bared cell door and tried to comfort the corrupted Creatures with compasion. Suddenly, her inner most kind spirit of all leaked out of her eye as a shiny tear that crawled along the floor, into the cage and made an enormous aura of powerful kindess that turned the Creatures back to normal. Twilight and Rarity picked up some nerve to help the confused Creatures and Fluttershy by using their teleportation spells to warp the captive Creatures back into the valley's primeval wilderness.

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"So that entire mutant army was changed back because of a stupid tear?", questioned a big ferocious voice from the cave's mouth. The whole group turned to see Goliath, standing at the cave's mouth, not looking to happy with their progress, "How does that even work?"

"It would appear that Fluttershy's kindess has become a hard-to-master power", interjected Rarity.

"All right, you giant feathered moron!", shouted Rainbow Dash, charging throught the air straight towards Goliath, "Time to tast my hooves in your throat!"

Goliath immediately lifted up his left wing and began to whisper an evil spell with his eyes shut. He had learned this trick from Kurayami. Rainbow stopped flying and froze still in mid air, unconsious while flapping her wings.

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Rainbow Dash was then seeing blackness all around her. She even heard the echoing call of a voice that she had not heard since she was a foal; her deceased older cousin, Lightning Dash, standing 12 feet away from her. He looked a lot like Rainbow, except that he was a little taller, had a lighter tone to his blue fur, had light orange-colored eyes, a Cutie Mark of a lightning bolt and his mane and tail were yellowish white, a lot like the color of a lightning streak.

"Lightning!", Rainbow shouted out in happiness, running towards her male cousin, tears of joy running from her eyes, "It's you! You're alive!" She then leaped into the air, straight towards him and then they both hugged each other.

"Rainbow", said Lightning, "You need to learn to be strong without me"

"Wha-What do you mean?", stammered Rainbow.

"A Roc named Goliath has put you into a deep transe-like state and this state you're in allows you to contact two things: the beautiful realm of where good souls end up after death and the evil Beings of the dark realm where wicked souls go after they die", said Lightning.

"What did I do that was flawed?", asked Rainbow.

"You need to learn not to unleash your full potential of getting something done. It'll make you look to self-confident", continued Lightning, "You also need to show that you're not enitrely brave, we're all afraid of something"

"You act like I'm not going to really see you ever again", said Rainbow softly, tears of sorrow begining to shed from her eyes.

"You need to be strong, cousin", replied Lightning, giving her a little kiss on her head to show family effection, "I will always be with you, even if you can't see me"

A bright light began to appear behind Lightning, it was a portal leading back to the realm for good and ritious souls. "I will always love you. We are both good cousins and you need to learn all the ropes of life just as I have had to learn. All members of the Dash family have had to learn all of it". He began to walk backwards into the bright portal.

"No! Don't go Lightning!", paniced Rainbow, her tears running down her face faster now, "Don't go!"

"I have to return to Heaven now", replied Lightning's voice as the portal closed up, "The Alicorns here are expecting great news from what you have learned from me"

The portal was closed down and Rainbow fell onto the dark floor, crying with her face on the floor. All of a sudden, she lifted up her head to see a another portal open up but this one was dark purple and out fell the Demon who murdered Lightning in the first place, the masculine Demons Litib, in his large, yellow, Beetle-like form.

"What am I doing here?", he asked outloud to himself, "This is not my shower of burning souls. I was going to take a shower and turn the handle to souls in pain to pour out on me and here I am in this strange place and..*gasp* Rainbow Dash!"

"So we meet again, cousin-killer!", hissed Rainbow Dash, "You've been accidently summoned to the realm of an illusion dark spell, like I have. I just met the soul of my good cuz, Lightning, the one you murdered years ago!"

"Oh, that", said Litib, "Look, I wish I could slaughter you right now, since we Demons have a top job of killing mortals for no reason, but I really need that shower"

The Beetle-like Demon opened that same dark portal back up and flew back in.

"_I've got to wake up out of this mental realm!_", Rainbow thought to herself.

_To Be Continued_


	22. A Sight on the Bank

Rainbow Dash then felt herself begining to wake up. Once she regained consiousness, she found herself lying on the gravel-covered floor and her friends, Philomena & Griffy's siblings were standing near her looking out the cave's mouth with serious faces. In addition, Goliath was missing.

"I see you've come to", said Oshlie, Griffy's twin sister, turning head towards Rainbow Dash, "We all worked together to overwhelm that huge Bird, he retreated out of the valley. Now we're trying to figure out a way to leave this valley safely"

"Ah've already got the venom jar stored away in mah sattle pack here", said Applejack, "Now wanna fahnd a less risky of leaving this valley than flying over the avalanche-infested mountains while insahde CHIP"

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As they all excited the cave, walking and flying down the steep base it was on and back into the jungle, Jooknar the Mandrill was not in his Tree anymore, instead he had left a note written with berry juice on a large leaf that read:

_Dear-a outsiders,_

_Me-a go back to village, for me-a afraid of cursed big cave you-a went in_

_From, Jooknar_

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They all found a river that was leading through a tiny tunnel that was nearly impossible to enter through if you were bigger than a Pony. CHIP transformed into a large, metal, raft-like boat at about 25 feet long with 3-foot tall sides surrounding the edges so no one would fall into the water.

As soon as CHIP began to motor through the river, under the dense forest canopy, the group of 12 sat down on the metal floor, talking to each other and telling Griffy's siblings about how their journey for the stolen venom went. Jason and Crosty (Griffy's older brother and younger sister) could understand what Griffy's friends were saying because Oshlie had already taught them along their way to valley.

"I could have easily saved you all from some huge predator around here", said Jason.

"That's what I've been doing all this time", said Rainbow Dash. Pretty soon, Jason and Rainbow were having a conversation about how their cool stunts have saved the day in the past. The two were a lot alike, just as Griffy had pointed from he first came to Ponyville.

Fluttershy noticed that Philomena was perched on the bow and was looking down at the water, looking very sad. "What's wrong?" she asked the Phoenix.

"I feel very sorry for Goliath", sighed Philomena in her squawking words, "All he really wants is to be respected again. I think Celestia still may care for him, so she's obviously worried for his safety"

"I do think that all that Roc needs is confidence in his own heart and, as William says, should always look on the bright side of life", replied Fluttershy, understanding Philomena's words.

Rainbow Dash told Jason to hold his thought, for she heard Fluttershy's conversation with Philomena. "Maybe Goliath needs to learn what I need to learn", said Rainbow, acting a little sad, "The spirit of my dead cousin, Lightning Dash, told me I need to still be strong, even without him. And I think Goliath needs to have the same basics I need to know"

Suddenly, when the whole group turned their heads to left side of the river, they all saw a spectacular sight. The left bank that they were looking at was right near a large, open, Grass and Shrub-covered plain. And out on that plain, near the river, was a small herd of Emela-Ntouka (those Elephant-sized Rhinos from earlier) grazing, a small group of Pygmy Elephants feeding on the Reeds by bank, a duo of Mbielu-Mbielu-Mbielu (those Stegosaurs from earlier) drinking at the river's edge and trio of Mokele-Mbembe (those Sauropods from earlier) browsing on the Trees and begining to approach the bank, curious about the 12 strange visitors riding on the large metel object down the river.

"You know", said Griffy to Twilight, "Zecora was right, this place is full of magnificent wonders"

They all watched one Mokele-Mbembe approach the river even closer than the others did, bellowed, and leaned its massivly long neck towards them in curiosity and bellowed again.

_To Be Continued_


	23. A Messege From Heaven

Right after CHIP had passed through the hidden cave river within the valley's mountain barrier, Spike suddenly remembered that former Canterlot guard, Richard, who taught the native Mandrills Ponytalk.

"Shouldn't we go back for Richard?", Spike asked Twilight, "He should report back to Canterlot"

"I tried to convince him while we were in the village", replied Twilight, "He told me that he was glad that he no longer lives a fancy schmancy royal life"

"Well let's hope he survives long enough", interjected Pinkie Pie, "After all, we Ponies are on the top of the food chain"

"Actually, Ponies are not", said Griffy, "All Equines are prey"

At this truth, Pinkie nearly fainted from the thought of getting eaten by anything with sharp teeth.

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Once CHIP transformed back into a calculator-like gadget, Griffy's 3 siblings gave a farewell to their brother and his friends, for they had to go back to Gabbagon. They would meet again some day.

The whole group then realized that they had to find their way back to the Pony territory, outside the Everfree Forest.

"It sure is a good thing that we are out of that primeval neverland, that Alicorn forsaken land", said Rarity, "Chimps that eat Elephants, Centipedes that eat Dinosaurs, even Spiders that eat things bigger than a Rabbit!"

"That'll be quite a report or story to bring back", said Twilight with a smile, "But try not to call the valley "Alicorn forsaken", it's pretty rude"

Rainbow Dash, however, was once again feeling a little down, for she still was not exactly sure about her cousin's spirit's word about knowing one's self.

They all then started to walk, but then decided to settle down, because the sun was already setting. They all chose a highish boulder (5 or 6 feet tall) with a flat top that was about 30 feet wide. It may have felt uncomfortable, but it was all they could do since the forest was dangerous at night.

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As they all slept, Rainbow was suddenly woken up by some sort of force. She looked at the 8 others but they were still asleep, as if only Rainbow could sense it. It felt like a tiny chill and then small winds picking up around her. And then, right before her eyes, up in the night sky, came a familiar voice sounding only more echo-like that said: "Rainbow Dash"

"Lightning?", asked Rainbow, recognizing the voice, standing up and looking straight at the sky.

Many of the clouds began to form together, making a shape that looked a lot like Lightning Dash's face. The Pony-like face made of clouds looked directly down at Rainbow and began to speak.

"This is a very rare opportunity for the soul of mortal in Heaven to make contact with one who is still alive", he said to her, "Now pay attention, dear cousin. You have technically forgoten about me"

"No", replied Rainbow in disbelief, "How could I have?"

"You are forgeting who you are and so have forgoten me", continued the spirit of Lightning, "For you see, the memory of me is still in your heart. You are indeed more than what you have become. You need to follow the Dash family tree and learn to be strong and feel good for the ones you have lost"

"But you were murdered by a Demon, and that counts in a way?", shouted out Rainbow, "And how do I remain strong if you're gone from the mortal realm forever?"

"Remember who you are", continued Lightning, "You are Rainbow Dash, my favorite cousin, and you must remember all the courage I taught you when I was alive"

The clouds all around Lightning's spirit began to depart away along with him too. "You shall forever remember who you are and even me"

"NO! PLEASE!", shouted Rainbow Dash, chasing after the windblown clouds as fast as her wings could carry her, "DON'T GO! LIGHTNING! LIGHTNING!"

But it was then too late, just as soon as Rainbow had flopped onto a Tree's top, the great clouds and Lightning's spirit had vanished away. Her cousin's spirit had already returned to the realm of good souls, Heaven.

"What was that?", spoke a familiar male voice from behind her. Rainbow turned to see that it was Griffy, woken up by all the noise and had followed Rainbow to this Tree, "Pretty strange weather we're having, aren't we?"

"You saw all that, huh?", asked Rainbow.

"Let's go back to sleep now", suggested Griffy. The then flew back to the large, flat rock and joined the others in slumber.

_To Be Continued_


	24. The Everfree Bar

The next morning, the 9 woke up, hungry for breakfest.

"Does anyone smell cooked leaves and carrion?", asked Griffy, smelling a delicious aroma in the air, his 1-foot long beak starting to water.

"I do", said Spike, liking the meat smell escpecially. Philomena also was attracted by the meat scent.

"I certainly smell something delicious", said Twilight, liking the scent of the cooked leaves along with the five other Ponies liking it.

The whole group wondered off the tall rock, following the smells in one direction, all together. They all walked through the tangled undergrowth of the Everfree Forest, searching for the source of these aromas. They finally discovered where the smells were coming from, a very large structure made of stone looking a whole lot like a small resturant or cafe in a way. "Everfree Public Cafe", the establishment's sign read. Cleaning a bit of leaf debris around the place were a few Raccoons, using brooms to pile up the debris.

"Raccoons are such disgusting Creatures", said Rarity, noticing the Raccoons even snacking on the debris.

"We're all disgustin' Creatures in a way", Applejack said to Rarity, making Rarity a little shocked on how seemingly disgusting she might be.

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Once the whole group entered in, they saw a great and bizarre marvel before them. The inside of this large contruction was indeed like a resturant or cafe but it had many sorts of species crawling everywhere: Whip-Poor-Wills, Grizzly Bears, Manticores, Ostriches, Forest Dragons, Vampire Bats, Wildebeests, Tree Kangaroos, Orangutans, Cockatrices, Crocodiles, Dholes, Anacondas, Tapirs, Cobras, Mouse Lemurs, Giant Anteaters, Gray Wolves, Minotaurs & more.

"We all might have to play cool here", Spike said, "This looks very Everfree Forest-worthy"

But just as the 9 walked a few more feet into the bar, passing the place's entertainment band of Tree Kangaroos playing catchy music, the Gibbon bartender shouted out, "Ponies? We don't serve their kind!"

"You might want to wait outside", Griffy said to the Ponies, "But don't worry, me, Spike and Philomena will bring you six something"

"With pleasure", replied Rarity, turning around for the exit with the other Ponies.

As soon as the Ponies exited and waited outside, Spike, Griffy & Philomena did not dare to sit at one of the booths, for it looked to criminal-infested, so they sat down at the stools by the Gibbon bartender.

"What can I get for yous guys, eh?", asked the Gibbon.

"We'll take some Millipedes and Oak leaves to go", replied Griffy.

As soon as the Gibbon began to look for the to-go snack in the wooden cuburds, a Minotaur sitting next to the three snorted at them and grunted at them, looking very unhappy. At that very moment, a Spidermonkey with a scar across his face got the three's attention to tell what the Minotaur said. "He doesn't like you guys"

"Sorry", said Spike.

"Okay, I think", said Griffy.

"This conversation makes me feel dizzy", said Philomena in her squawk words.

"I don't like you three either", continued the Monkey.

"You don't even know us", said Griffy.

"But you three look so suspicious", snapped Spidermonkey, "You might be undercover cops, because we're wanted criminals"

That's when the to-go order came to the three and they quickly moved for the exit before anything else happened.

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Back outside, the six Ponies were kind of moping, still feeling emotionally hurt from the Everfree Forest hating their species for ruining the rest of the world.

"Feed them, my pretties!", cackled Griffy at the bag of food in a dramatic witch voice. He then turned his voice back to normal. "Sorry, I always wanted to do that"

Thus, the 9 travelers began to eat their breakfest: Millipedes for the 3 non-Ponies and Oak leaves for the 6 Ponies. After that, they knew that they must get back to the Pony territories and report back to Canterlot.

_To Be Continued_


	25. The Museum of Canterlot

After the group had finished their breakfest, a rather familiar object was falling out of the sky straight towards them all.

"Is it a meteorite?", asked Spike.

"Oh no", sighed Griffy, "I can't be what I think it is"

The object finally crashed onto the ground in front of them all, accidently landing right on Griffy. It was none other than that dim-witted, cross-eyed, female Pegasus Pony, Ditzy Doo (AKA Derpy Hooves).

"You're the represenatives of the Elements of Harmony!", said Ditzy with joy, once she aknowledged them all, "Is the Phoenix a new member of your gang?"

"Philomena is here just to guide us through certain areas of the Everfree Forest", replied Twilight, "What are you doing here, by the way? Aren't you supposed to be delivering mail?"

"I wanted to try out that rainbow-colored explosion my race can do when we dive bomb from the air", replied Ditzy.

"You mean a Sonic Rainboom?", asked Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash, a little unamused.

"Wait", interupted Spike, "Where's Griffy?"

Ditzy immediately flew away, just in time to reveal Griffy unconcious on the ground.

"Griffy?", asked Rarity.

"Oh my darling!", Griffy spoke in Gabbagonian, his eyes still closed, grabbing Rarity's face, "My little ball of sunshine!". He was not awake, clearly. Since he was dreaming about his childhood crush, Glonia, he gave Rarity a big slurp on her face with his tongue. The whole group a acted grossed-out and shocked, Spike most of all. Griffy opened his eyes to see himself in front of Rarity with his tongue on her snout. He let go of her and shrieked on horror.

"I hath been poithoned!", he cried, his tongue hanging from his beak, "I need tho wath mythelth!"

He immediatly rushed over to a nearby pond, stuck his longish beak in and made bubbles. After that, he gasped and began breathing heavily from both exhaustion and shock. "I need to watch myself whenever I'm unconcious"

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Eventually, the group made it back to Canterlot. First thing they did was present the retrieved venom jar to Celestia and Luna and tell them how their latest adventure went. The jar was taken back to its safe by the guards.

"Wait a minute", interupted Celestia at one point in their story-telling of their quest, "Goliath? He's returned?"

"He tried to kill Philomena more than the 8 of us", said Griffy. Philomena, on the other hand, was so relieved to be back home with Celestia, but still a little freaked out about the life and death journey that had just taken place.

"I knew his jealousy would get the better of him and turn him over to the dark side", sighed Celestia, "I actually miss the big-sized Bird"

"One other thing", added Luna, "Since my sister and I knew of the prehistoric center of the Everfree Forest's existence, we had Canterlot's first prehistory museum constructed in your honor. We hired some Pony paleontologists to find fossils and send them to display in the museum"

The friends got exited by this thought and decided to go see this museum for themselves. But before Twilight left with the others, she had to ask her mentor a very important question. "Me and my Pony friends got trapped in a mystic cave that gives you alternate visions and we saw them as the universe conquered by evil if the mission were to be failed. Could that all really happen?"

"Well since it was all alternate", said Celestia, reasonably, "It obviously won't happen. You see, in the far off future, it is fortold that my alicorn kin will destroy Kurayami forever, thus destroying anything against our will forever, and all good souls will be taken away to a new happy realm of peace. But that will not be until who knows when"

After that, Twilight caught up with her 7 friends and they arrived at the museum. The place was filled with the skeletons of long extinct Creatures from all different past geological time periods. The Ponies' favorite was the skeleton to the ancestor to all Equines, Tapirs and Rhinos: _Hyracotherium, _no bigger than a Domestic Cat and having 4 hoof-like toes on each foot. Spike's favorite was the skeleton of a very well-known primitive Dragon: _Megadracosaurus, _bipedal with no front legs but wings instead (like a Bat or Bird) and a pair of Goat-like horns on its head. Griffy's favorite was the skeleton of the ancestor of all Griffins and Hippogriffs: Proto-Griffin, _Protoceratops_-like with a large Eagle-like wings on its back and a long Lion-like tail.

"You know", said Griffy to his 7 friends, "That valley truley spoke to me. I believe that all of Equestria should be like tha rest of the planet, an independant enviroment not neeading a pony's attention to function properly"

"You're kiddin' raght?", asked Applejack.

"I say because I'm an Everfree Forest Creature. Don't you all see, my friends, all these non-sentient wild Creatures all around us require our abscence to survive, they really don't need any forced help to live. I mean if we could all just step aside, and just in nature". He began to shed tears of both happiness and pride. "Life will find a way"

"You may have a point", said Twilight, thinking about the prehistoric valley at the Everfree Forest's heart and all its spectacular wonders.

_The End_

_(This calls for the Jurassic Park theme by John Williams_)

NOTE: All those valley Creatures are all based on cryptic Animals in our world sighted in the Congo (as you read these names, take a look at them on Google Images):

Emela-Ntouka

J'ba Fofi

Kongamato

Mahamba

Mbielu-Mbielu-Mbielu

Mokele-Mbembe

Muscle Ape (or Bili Ape in our world)

Nguma-Monene

Olitiau

Pygmy Elephant (or African Pygmy Elephant in our world)

Virunga (or Kasai Rex in our world)

_(The story shall continue with "Ponies Down Under")_


End file.
